Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers

January 2012 Minutes

2012-02-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Minutes 1/14/12

Treasurer’s Report: We have $2853.85in the account and 47 members. Doris will reserve the Davis Creekcampsite for $850.00. The Guild donated $500 to the Heifer Project.

Old Business:

The December minutes were approved.Everyone thanked Maxene Harlow for doing the Reindeer Games at theDecember meeting!

If anyone is interested in starting aWeaving Group, please contact Nancy Pryor. She will come to yourhouse to lead it.

Marilynne Clarke sent flowers from theGuild to Nancy Grundy and Virva will get a card for everyone to signto send to her.

January 27^th-29^th-SpinningIntensive Workshop with Abby Franquemot, put on by the Foothill FiberGuild. The cost for the workshop is $225. Contact Virva for moreinformation.

New Business:

May 19^th- Living HistoryFair at Miguel Rivera Park on Neil Road, for more information contactVirva.

June 13^th-17^th-Spindle Camp, put on by Foothill Fiber Club. It will be held at LakeFrancis, near Marysville, CA. For more information contact Virva.

Please contact Virva with feedback onwhat you would like to see in the meetings. Format changes, lengthof meetings, suggestions?

Any ideas for Learning Trees to submit?Please contact Mim or Virva.

Show and Tell:

Barbara shared a Universal Acrylic/WoolShawl, a Banded Silk Shawl in Module Knit. Patterns and informationmay be found at straw.com

Judy shared a knitted vest she hadmade.

Linda shared the “Felted Tree”dream catcher, her niece had made her for Christmas, after Linda hadintroduced her to felting. Linda showed the 3-toed and 6-toed socksshe had made for another niece, the toes number is an ongoing jokebetween them.

Mimi shared pieces of colorfully dyedfelt to be used for felted flowers made by her niece. She also sharedfelted “Noodles” to be used as hair ornaments/dread locks,necklaces or bracelets.

Mary shared her sage green scarf usingStephanie’s pattern and a Pi r² Shawl in cream.

Max shared several commission items. Aknitted jacket she is making for a horsewoman in Alabama.

A December Lights Tam Kit hat that shemade for Phyllis in Berkeley, CA. She used an embroidery hoop toblock press the crease in the hat. She shared knitted earrings shehad made. She reported that Rudge, a cotton grower in Clarksdale,Mississippi, will send her a quantity of cotton sliver for us toexperiment with.

Nancy shared several hats, the jestertype hat pattern can be found on the Vogue knitting site.

Janet shared a funny excerpt from thebook The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.

Heidi demonstrated how to use thecharka and inkle looms kits that are available to be borrowed fromthe Guild.

In attendance: Mary B., Janet Drozd,Eileen Jacobs, Marilyn Pearson, Connie Vann, Victoria Klasch, BarbaraHunt, Susan Palwick, Virva Porcelli, Sharie Jones, Maxene Harlow,Mimi Bullard, Jo Van Winkle, Mark and Linda Lindsay, MarilynneClarke, Doris Woloszyn, Heidi Ericson, Nancy Pryor, Judy Wells, JanetSchueller

Our next meeting will be on February 11th at Bartley Ranch School House.

Driving Directions:

BartleyRanch:. Drive .8 mile west fromthe intersection of McCarran Blvdand Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on LakesideDrive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of WindyHill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet tothe main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into theparking lot for the School House.

December 2011 Minutes

2011-12-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

Pray for Snow

December meetingminutes 2011

The meeting openedwith introductions as we had a visitor, Ashley. Thank you for joining usAshley!

Doris followed withthe treasurer’s report. She had received two dues, and money from the raffle.Money was spent on flowers for Nancy Grundy, and the Heifer Project. She alsogot the un cashed check back that was intended for the space rental at theLiving History event. The guild balance is currently $2603.85. There will beexpenses due shortly for the guild liability insurance premium, and the depositfor the retreat at Davis Creek Park.

There was no weavingstudy report at this time.

Library report: Heidiis putting together some “learn to” kits using books from our library alongwith some of the guild equipment. This gives members the opportunity to trysomething new using tools WITH the instructions on how to use them!

Old business: Meetingplaces are scheduled as follows: January, March, and November meetings will beheld at Sky Peaks Community Center. February, April, October, and Decembermeetings will be held at Bartley Ranch. May is at Doris’ home, June, atMarilynn’s house. July will be at Mim’s house. August will be held at thearboretum at Rancho San Rafael Park. September will be the retreat at DavisCreek Park. Please check the website for directions for each meeting.

We will be attendingthe Living History Celebration at Miguel Ribera Park on May 19^th2012 as guests of the Celtic group. Period costume is encouraged, but notnecessary.

New Business: Thereis a loom for sale, an Oregon Trails 45 inch 8 harness with supplies.

Show and Tell: Libby- entrelac and trellis scarves. Susan - work from her Hazel Rose Loom, alsodiscussion regarding a Mirrex Loom. Sheila - cowl. Janet - sock monkey. Toni -alpaca scarf. Carolyn - cross stitch bunny with hand spun yarn. Heidi - totebag by Too Cute (made in Fallon Nevada) hand spun socks for her husband, babyhat and socks. Linda - Knitted bag pipe, knitted Christmas Tree. Sue -introduced her father, Alfred as a guest. Max - knitted string of lights(knitpicks pattern), mitered vest with her very own handmade buttons. Sharie -felted bag. Nancy - blue knit shawl, dyed skeins. Mim - handmade oatmeal soap.

After the meeting, wewere treated to a game by Maxene and Sharie. We all ended up with bags of nicelittle Christmas gifts! It was great fun, and we appreciate both ladies fortaking the time to treat us all to a nice surprise. A potluck lunch followed.

Those in attendancewere: Toni Strassburg, Carolyn Thompson, Heidi Ericson, Linda Lindsay, MaxeneHarlow, Sharie L. Jones, Nancy Prior, Connie Vann, Mimi Bullard, VirvaPorcelli, Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Mary B. Susan Palwick, Janet Schueller,Ashley Thibedeau, Doris Woloszyn, Eileen Jacobs, Janet Drozd, David Armer,Sheila Young.

Our next meeting will be on January 14th meeting at the Sky Peaks Rec Hall

Sky PeakRanch: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. Amap is available here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1520+SKY+VALLEY+DRIVE+RENO+NV+89523+(775)747-9555 You can access it from 4th street alittle west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarrangoing south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At thatstop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another fewblocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NWside.

November 2011 Minutes

2011-12-04T14:28:00.001-08:00

November 2011 MeetingMinutes

The meeting was heldat Sky Peaks in Reno. There were no introductions, as there were no new peoplepresent. The previous month’s minutes were approved without corrections.

Treasurer Report:Doris reported on some small transactions, with a guild balance of $3080.85.

Dues for the upcomingyear are now due! Please consider continuing your membership for 2012, and giveyour check or cash to Doris. Dues for the year is $25.

Weaving study group:There was no meeting last month. If you are interested in working on your loomwith some help and guidance, or would like to host a weaving study group, pleasecontact Nancy Prior.

The guild library hasadded the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook to it’s collection. Thank you Marilynn,for your help in getting this publication into our library. Heidi Ericson isthe person to contact if you would like to borrow something from our extensivelibrary of books and videos.

Barbara Hunt broughtin some really cool ( or rather warm really!) raffle items! The sweater was amuch sought after item. Thank you Barbara, for continuing to provide us withthe raffle, and we look forward to your selections each month.

Old Business: Meetingplaces for the 2012 year were discussed. With the exception of the months ofMay, June, July, August and September, the meetings will be held primarily atBartley Ranch, or Sky Peaks. There was discussion regarding holding a meetingin the Carson City area. Please see the website for scheduled meetinglocations. Discussion regarding the warping wheel and storage.

Discussion regardingthe use and storage of the fair boxes. Much of what is contained can be used atthe Celtic Fair. There was discussion regarding dispersal of those items thatmay no longer be needed by the guild.

New Business: Virvapresented a need for sweaters for penguins. Sounds odd, but knitted woolsweaters are needed for penguins caught in oil spills. If you are interested in knitting for acause, please go to the website - skeinz.com.nz/newsletters for instructions on how to participate.

There is anopportunity to participate in the Living History Fair to be held May 19^th,at Miguel Ribera Park. The event goes from 10 am to 4 pm, and set up is at 8:30am. Costume may or may not be necessary. The cost is $15 per space. There is aplanning meeting on November 17^th, that Mary will attend on theguild’s behalf. It was decided by members present, to send a card and flowersto Nancy Grundy. Nancy has been undergoing some health concerns, and we want tolet her know we are thinking of her and wish her well. Marilynn Clarke willtake care of ordering the flowers, and the card.

There was discussionregarding the Heifer Project. Those present voted to donate $500 on behalf ofour guild for placement of fiber animals, with any leftover dollars put to usewherever needed.

There is anotheralpaca spin off coming up. If you would like to participate, please contactMimi Bullard for information. The learning tree for this month will be aquestion and answer period after the meeting.

Show and Tell: Virva;alpaca show info. She attended the Alpaca West Extravaganza in Grass ValleyCalifornia. Said it was much fun, informative, and the camping and fairgroundswere really very nice. Max modeled her spiral jacket knit from a pattern inVogue Knitting magazine with handspun yarn, a necklace made from vintagecostume jewelry, a sweater for a client, presentation of the chevron skirtpattern she and Heidi have been working on, and a pair of flaming boots . Mimbrought in dyed items. Mary: a pattern for a top down raglan sweater that iseasily adjustable to individual size and type of yarn used. Nancy: a modularknitted shawl, hats and scarves, and a capelet, also skeins dyed with Lanasetdye. Amy brought in several skeins dyed with iron, coreopsis, Russian sage,leopard plant, red cabbage, tea, and dried fennel. Linda shared a really neatstory and picture regarding her niece and her spinning lesson. Seems the younglady has really taken to the craft, and has produced beautiful yarn in a matterof just a few days! She also brought socks knit from a sock blank, and a cardfrom the folks at the Celtic Fair. Sherrie brought core spun yarn, and yarnwith beads. Toni: blended batts from BFL fiber she bought from Mim. Barbarashared her knit socks made with handspun kool aid dyed panda fiber bought fromMim. Gary and Belinda shared their recent experience at the Taos Wool Festivalin New Mexico. Gary took some instruction on Navaho weaving, and brought insome beautiful sample weaving he has been working on. Janet modeled her vestknit from yarn that was given to her by her mother in law. She over dyed the yarnwith kool aid for a very pleasing peach color.

Those in attendanceat the meeting were: Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, David Armer, Nancy Prior, ToniStrassburg, Amy Shannon, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Marilynn Clarke, DorisWoloszyn, Mim Bullard, Mary B, Maxene Harlow, Sharrie L. Jones, Barbara Hunt,Libby Hejny, Malinda and Gary Parks

Our Christmas Party is being held at the school house at Bartley Ranch
The Christmas party is a pot luck. Also if you'd like bring a wrapped Christmas Ornament for the ornament exchange and a White Elephant item for the Silent Action.

October 2011 Minuets

2011-10-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

October 2011 Meeting Minutes

Meeting started at 11 AM, with introductions. There were two ladies present as guests, Rachel Roden, who found out about our guild at the Celtic Fair, and Susan Pelwick. We are very glad you two found us, and we welcome you to our guild.
The September meeting minutes were approved with only a minor correction regarding the Gold Country Gathering Alpaca Show being held in October in Grass Valley, Ca. A big THANK YOU! goes out to Jo Van Winkle who took care of the minutes for September in my absence.
Treasurer Report: As of 10 -7- 11, we have $209 from the retreat, $100 refund from Davis Creek Park, $20 from a new member, for a total of $2927.44. There are currently 45 paid guild members.
Weaving Study Group: Nancy Prior heads up our weaving study group. Interested members meet at a designated home, and are invited to bring their own looms of any kind for individual help. If you are interested in hosting a weaving study group, please contact Nancy Prior to set this up. There is no weaving study meeting currently scheduled at this time.
Raffle: Marilyn Clark brought in a beautiful Mum she purchased at Dry Creek Garden Company in Reno. The mum was put up for silent auction after the meeting. Thank you Marilyn! If you are interested in donating anything for the raffle, please contact Barbara Hunt, as she is currently our (very successful) raffle coordinator. There was also discussion about the great deal on the mums at Dry Creek Garden Center!
Old Business: Discussion regarding the Celtic Fair. Our guild was awarded a $200 honorarium from the Celtic Celebration, and there is a standing invitation for our guild to participate next year! From the sound of the discussion, many of our members had a great time participating. There seems to be more to the story regarding the ‘Pirates’, and the fact that we need more of the drop spindle kits was discussed. The spindle kits that were available were quite popular, and sold out. Mark Lindsay spoke regarding signage and a request for more vendors for next year’s event. If you have suggestions or questions regarding next year’s Celtic Celebration, please contact Mark or Linda Lindsay.
Sharie Jones had checked in to the availability of the Valhalla Historical Site at Lake Tahoe. The cost, $500 per day, with a $500 deposit was discussed. It was determined that the cost of using the site might be too expensive for our guild to manage alone. Discussion followed regarding some sort of multi guild event, something along the lines of the jamboree the guild used to host in Carson City.
Doris Woloszyn brought up the fact that it is almost time to reserve the group camp area at Davis Creek Park for next years retreat. This was approved by those present.
There was discussion regarding the equipment list. It was made up by Doris, and soon will be added to the website. It was agreed that an additional list of supplies for each item of equipment will be provided too. It was agreed that the warping board would be added to the equipment that goes with the looms. The warping board was purchased by Heidi Ericson and donated to the guild. Thank you very much Heidi! If you are a member of the guild, and would be interested in borrowing a piece of equipment from the guild, such as a spinning wheel or loom, you may do so for free as long as you are a paid member.
Discussion of officers for 2012. It was decided that many of the current members will agree to continue with their positions if agreeable to the membership however if you are interested in acting as guild president for 2012, please let Virva know. Elections are coming up!
Don’t forget the guild library is available to members. If you are interested in something from the library, please let Heidi Ericson know. She will assist you with this. Marilyn has suggested adding the Fleece and Fiber Source book to our library. She has a copy, and all in attendance agreed it would be a great book to add to our library. The cost will put our library budget of $100 over by $5 but it was decided the overage was within reason. Marilyn Clarke will contact Sundance Book Store for our guild library copy of the book. Thank you Marilyn!
Meeting places for 2012 was discussed. Dates for both Bartley Ranch and Sky Peaks are tentative. There are a few months where we will be meeting at member’s homes. According to Brian, the park ranger, if we have booked Bartley Ranch and they end up renting the building, we will be given 2 weeks notice in order to find another place to meet. It was decided that the Christmas or December meeting will be held at Bartley Ranch. This will be a pot luck meeting.
New Business: The Gold Country Gathering Alpaca Show is being held in Grass Valley, California on October 22nd and 23rd. If you would be interested in going and would like to carpool, please let Virva know as she would be going. The Red Rock Community Center is holding a fundraiser on October 22nd, and is looking for vendors. If you are interested in participating, please contact Mim Bullard. Red Rock is north of Reno approximately 30 miles. Spin Off magazine is offering a spinning weekend in Southern California November 3rd through the 5th. Info can be found on their website. SOAR, or the annual Spin Off Annual Retreat will be held once again at Granlibakken Resort at Lake Tahoe in 2012!
There was discussion regarding the boxes of stuff used during state fair. Virva is currently providing a home for them in her garage, but would like to find those boxes a new home. Suggestions were made to inventory the contents, eliminate what is no longer needed.
The learning tree for this meeting was two ended knitting, demonstrated by Mim. Thank you Mim!
Show and Tell: Doris: Books and programs from her recent trip to Colorado and the Border Collie Sheepdog Trials. Ribbons won for sheep fleeces from Monterey Wool. Black Sheep, and Mendocino Wool Shows. Good job! Congratulations! Toni: hiking story. (as promised, the mailing address for El Dorado County Search and Rescue is PO Box 721 Placerville, Ca. 95667). Sue G: Beautiful tatting accomplished while attending the Celtic Fair. Susan: Christmas Story resulting in a creative gift by her husband of the penlight and Bobby’s whistle…yes, I was paying attention : ) Linda: Sock blank socks made from the Wilton dye happy face dyed blank. Mim: Two ended knitted hat. Virva: Dyed roving from the retreat in September. Max: Drop stitch scarf and hat from a blank dyed at the September retreat, circular jacket beginning, Knit Swirl book (Happy Birthday Max!). Sharie: Entrelac book (Happy Birthday Sharie!), Panda sock yarn dyed at September retreat. Mary: Roving for a knitted earflap hat, beautiful roving of different colors, knit sweater beginning. Heidi: Kool Aid dyed sock blanks. Nancy: Lanaset dyed green and yellow roving.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, Rachel Roden, Doris Woloszyn, Nancy Pryor, Heidi Ericson, Marilyn Clarke, Judy Wells, Mary B, Sharie Jones, Maxene Harlow, Virva Porcelli, Mimi Bullard, Mark and Linda Lindsay, Connie Vann, Sheila Young, Susan Pelwick, Sue Gottsacker, Carolyn Thompson
Here are the directions to our next meeting at Sky Peaks:

September 2011 Minutes

2011-10-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

CSSW Minutes 9/10/2011
Treasurer’s Report:
Doris reported that 2 people had paid dues and we have 1 new member, bringing our total to 44. No money was spent this last month, our balance is $2573.44.
Weaving Study Group: Nancy needs someone to host the group on the 3rd or 4th Saturday of the month.
Old Business:
Celtic Fair, Oct. 1-2-Linda reported that since the Celtic Fair and the Guild were both non-profit, we could sell small ticket items at the Fair and hand out business cards. Large ticket items though, should be sold outside of the Fair.
They requested a biography of the Guild, so Linda will give them the one from our blogspot.
Period costumes are encouraged but not required. We will be in the same area as last year and Mark said the Heritage Society is there all night so we could leave our equipment, etc. overnight with no security issues.

The October meeting will be held at Bartley Ranch.
The November meeting will be held at Sky Peak.
It is undecided whether the December meeting will be held at Nancy Grundy’s house or Bartley Ranch.

New Business:
It was agreed that White Elephant/free items that are not claimed at the meetings will be donated to the Assistance League as suggested by Janet Drozd.
Members were encouraged to attend the Nevada County Fair in Grass Valley, CA, held October 22-23. Some of our members are doing the judging and placing of the Alpaca samples for this event.
Re-election of the officers was discussed and the following members volunteered to continue in their positions.
Virva Porcelli-President
Connie Vann-Vice-President
Doris Wolosyn-Treasurer
Barbara Hunt-Raffles
Heidi Ericson-Library
Mimi Bullard-Website, Learning Tree
Nancy Pryor and Marilynn Clark will continue to house most of the Guild’s equipment. Doris Wolosyn and Heidi Ericson will continue storing the Library and other items. Doris has a partial equipment list that will be put on the website and added to as needed. It was decided that a “contents” label would be put on equipment, such as looms, listing all pieces.
Nancy Pryor requested we purchase 200 more texsolv heddles to complete the Guild looms. The approximate $40 purchase was approved.
Sharie Jones reported that she stopped in at Valhalla by Camp Richardson in Tahoe and talked to the owner about our Guild. The owner was very enthusiastic about our holding an event there. Rental of the building is free to non-profit organizations or $500 for others. It could be rented for 3-5 days. Sharie and Doris will discuss all the details to be brought up with the owner. Sharie will get back to us with that information. The group discussed having a Guild Jamboree weekend there in late August or September. We were all very excited about this idea! Valhalla is a large building and has an Art room. The setting is gorgeous with beautiful views of the Lake and Valhalla does the advertising for events. The Guild will form a committee to invite other guilds, fiber groups and vendors to participate, as well as, handle all the other preparations needed.
Black Sheep Gathering, June 22-24: Doris reported that the Olympic Field Trials will again be going on during the time of the Gathering. This causes a room shortage in Lane County and Eugene, Oregon. Please contact Travel Lane County at http://www.travellanecounty.org. 1-800-547-5445 for motel reservations. Camping space is available. This area does not have water or electricity available and no campfires are allowed, so cooking must be done on stoves. There are showers available in the County buildings.
The Foothill Fiber Guild is holding their Spindle Retreat May 30-June 3. More details on this event later.

Show and Tell:
Mimi showed a beautiful hat she knitted from her Shetland sheep, Marin, and talked about the “two end knitting” she used.
Libby Hejny showed the beautiful Irish Linen bag her friend brought her from Ireland. It has lavender embroidered on it and is filled with Mimi’s lavender.
Mary B. shared a book , Sock Knitting: Teach Yourself Visually
Sharie shared a story about the top she is making, she hackled merino and alpaca fibers with a cake fork while on vacation in Ohio. Not only beautiful but very inventive as well!
Nancy showed her famous “fish stringer” with helix scarves and Weave-It loom items displayed on it. She shared that she came by weaving honestly, as she showed us the exquisite covering that her Great-Great-Grandmother made. She spun the wool and then wove it on a 6 heddle loom that her Great-Great-Grandfather probably built. They came here in 1849 from Kentucky.
Sue Gottsacker showed her beautiful tatted doily and shared tatting books.
Virva opened a discussion of next year’s meeting places. She asked if we wanted another “DVD Day” at the library also. Final meeting places and information will be posted later.
In attendance were: Virva Porcelli, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Mary B., Sharie Jones, Jo Van Winkle, Mimi Bullard, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Connie Vann, Marilynn Clarke, Doris Wolosyn, Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, Heidi Ericson, Carol Lee Lopez, Nancy Pryor and Sue Gottsacker.
The Silent Auction was concluded at 2:00 and many of us went home with wonderful treasures! Thank you!

August 2011 Minutes

2011-08-29T10:47:00.001-07:00

August 2011 Meeting Minutes
The meeting started a bit late with introductions. There were a few new faces present. Thank you to all of those who decided to visit, and we hope to see you again.
July minutes were approved.
Treasurer Report: Doris took in money for dues for two members. Nothing was spent since last month leaving the guild with $2456.44. We have 42 paid members. There are six spindle kits ready for sale. One was recently sold. Thank you goes out to Nancy Prior for putting the spindle kits together. Heidi Ericson has promised a donation of some medium wool roving for use in the kits. Motion was made and approved to give Doris ok for future purchase of materials needed for the spindle kits.
Weaving Study Group: Members met in July at Doris’ home. No weaving study group planned until September. If you would like to host a study group meeting, please contact Nancy Prior.
State Fair: Seems that many counties are canceling their county fairs due to lack of funding. Nevada’s University Co-operative Extension personnel are being scaled back or in some cases eliminated, so this will have bearing on future 4-H, or ag related programs. There was talk of California county fairs, with a consensus agreeing that Nevada county California fair was the best so far in attendance.
Raffle: Barbara Hunt is presiding over the raffle and raffle items. She says she has lots of things currently ready for the raffle, and will let the guild members know if she needs more donations of items. Please keep in mind, if you have anything you think others in the guild might like - gift certificates you won’t use, skeins of sock yarn you bought and don’t like, roving or fiber you decided you don’t want to spin, anything really, let Barbara know so she can plan on adding it to the raffle stash. The raffle money goes directly into the guild account.
Old Business: Denise Quirk from the local Soroptimist International Reno was at the meeting to update the guild regarding the upcoming Cowboy Poetry Reading August 20, at Bartley Ranch Park. She said due to the lack of vendor participation, the Saturday marketplace has been canceled. This means the guild will no longer plan on setting up demos as a group. The poetry reading will still go on as planned, along with a company picnic, and guild members are invited to attend and to sit and spin. There are shade trees, but a larger group might warrant using a pop up shelter for shade. Denise brought some really nice cupcakes as a consolation offering, and said she would let the guild know if there are plans for the same type of opportunity next year. Retreat at Davis Creek Park is coming up in September. Please remember there is only 1 ranger available for the park, so things like toilet paper, soap, etc. might be in short supply. If you can bring such items along it might be a good idea. We plan on leaving our area cleaner than we found it. Also, if you want to be proactive and see trash elsewhere in the park, please pick it up. The ranger can use all the help he can get. Camping is encouraged, and is a lot of fun! Entrance to the park has changed due to road construction. Enter the park on Parker Ranch Road - located in front of the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory. Directions will be posted on the guild blog. The meeting Saturday September 10 will include a potluck, silent auction, and white elephant sale. Please bring ice! If you want to bring firewood, that would be nice too. Fire pit use will depend upon park guidelines. Auction items include things donated by Pat Ecdall, and will be advertised prior to the auction. Please bring your alpaca challenge items and last year’s dye day items to share with the guild. Learning tree will be dye day hosted by Mimi Bullard. She will provide dye. If you want to participate, plan on bringing black plastic bags, baggies, vinegar, kool-aid, syringes, yarn or fiber, plastic wrap, jars, buckets.
Celtic Fair is October 1 & 2nd. There was discussion regarding vendor opportunities at the Celtic Fair. More info will be available later.
New Business: September 4th will be the Sample of the Sierra event. It is held at south Lake Tahoe, on Ski Run Blvd. There will be vendors and demos, some of which will involve members of our guild. Reno Fiber Guild is offering a workshop. Extreme Warp Makeover will take place October 7 - 9. Cost is $260, and you must bring your own loom. Location is Wolfrun Golf Club in Reno.
Goats were being offered for sale on the yahoo list.
There is an opportunity to work with children in a fiber animal related manner. If you would like to teach the kids about fiber prep, spinning, knitting or crochet, please contact Linda Blackwell at horsesforthespirit@gmail.com
Show and Tell
Mim- dyed skeins, scarf, and e reader bag done with expert assistance from Carrie and Jo, also hat from Sharron’s pattern. Jo- donated yarn backpacks knit and fulled. Marilynn- dye class scarves dyed with rusty bits, skeins dyed with iris flowers and alum mordant. Nancy- display skeins on fish stringers and pvc piping. Sharie- carded roving made on the drum carder she bought from Nancy, Woolie Winder, Turkish

Our September meeting will be at Davis Creek Park on September 10th. There is some road construction at the Bowers Mansion turn off.
So for those of us who come from Reno take the Parker Ranch Road turn off just before you get to the Chocolate Factory

Make a right and go under the new freeway - then left on the frontage road - it ends at the road going into Davis Creek - then right on that road and you're there
Linda says "no promises - but I'll TRY to mark the 395 turn off"
For folks coming from Carson there's no change - all the construction is on the north end of Washoe Valley
(original directions for those coming from south of Bowers Mansion)

Driving Directions: Take 395 south from Reno or north from Carson City to the turnoff to Bowers Mansion. Turn west (the only way you can turn) and shortly (quarter mile maybe) down the road you will get to Davis Creek Park. It will be on the right. After you pass the bathrooms, proceed through the dip and the road to the group area is on the right. We will also have a sign up. The retreat will be in the "RV Group Camping" area at the north end of the park

July 2011 Minutes

2011-08-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

The July meeting started with introductions and the approval of the June minutes.

Treasurers Report: This last month we collected $50.00 in dues, $32.00 from the last raffle, and sold one spindle kit for $5.00
Heidi our librarian bought 4 new books for the guild for $76.06 The total in our account is $2406.44 and we have 40 members at this date.

Library Report: Heidi added 4 new books and with gifts we have several books on dyeing One of which is "Harvesting Color".
Weaving Study: group met on July 16th at Doris's home
There was no raffle this meeting. Reminder: if anyone has fiber related odds and ends please bring them to the next meeting to add to our raffle items.

Old Business: Anyone wanting to participate at the "Cowboy Poetry" on August 20th please let Virva know when you can be there and if you would like to help with different demo's during the day. Set up will begin at 8 am and it will be open to the public from 10:00 to 5:00. Marilyn and Jo have offered to bring their E-Z ups. We can always use more shade so please if anyone else has more contact Virva.
Nancy and Doris will have more Spindle kits to sell, plus Nancy will have a table loom warped for weaving demos. Mim and Jo will demo felting in the AM.
Retreat: There will be a Silent Action in September at the retreat. Bring all items that will be auctioned to the August meeting so we will be able to decide on their opening bids and tag each item.. So far some of the items we will be auctioning off are an antique spinning wheel starting at $40.00, several boat shuttles starting at $5.00 each. two bobbin winders starting at $40.00.
Reminder for all pot luck lunches please remember to bring your own dishes and knives and forks.
New Business: Doris has all the paper work done to hold our space at Davis Creek Campground for this years Spinsters Retreat. She also turned in our Insurance for this year.
Noon September 9th - noon the11th are the days the guild has reserved for anyone who would like to camp. If you would like to come earlier or stay later you will need to contact the Washoe County Parks Department to make your own reservations.
Show and Tell: Linda had a sample of her Krokbragd weaving, Mim had yarn and felt from her Shetland fleece, Virva had some yarn spun from Shetland/cormo wool, Doris had some ribbons won by her fleeces she entered in a fleece show, Eileen had a bat of wool Shetland/Alpaca that she brought back from BSG, and Heidi showed off her goodies she brought back from this years BSG.
Attendance: Eileen Jacobs, Jo Van Winkle, Noelle Van Winkle, Doris Woloszyn, Nancy Pryor, Janet Schueller, Judi Hein, Heidi Ericson, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Virva Procelli.

Our August Meeting on Saturday the 13th will be held at Sky Peaks Rec Room. This is a brown bag lunch.

Sky Peak Ranch: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1520+SKY+VALLEY+DRIVE+RENO+NV+89523+(775)747-9555 You can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side.

Minutes June 2011

2011-06-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

June Meeting Minutes 2011

The June meeting was held at Sky Peaks. Meeting opened with introductions and approval of April 2011 minutes. We would like to thank Melissa Tounsend for joining us today. Treasure Report: We have two more paid members, 0 dollars spent last month, leaving the guild with a total of $2395.50. The guild currently has 39 paid members. The invoice for the new books was received, and the new member list has been updated.
Library: Heidi will update the book list to reflect the new additions to the guild library.
Weaving Study Group: If you are interested in hosting a meeting, it would work best for Nancy if the meeting was held on the third or forth Saturday of any month. Please contact Nancy Pryor if you are interested in hosting a meeting.
Nevada State Fair: Update on livestock portion of the fair - looks like it will be held in Winnemucca. The check from our guild to the Nevada State Fair fund is still pending at this time.
Raffle: If you have something you think others in the guild might like, please consider donating it to our raffle. All proceeds go towards guild.
Old Business: Cowboy Poetry reminder - August 20th at Bartley Ranch. We will have two 10 x 10 spaces. Set up will begin at 8 am. Demos and spinning will be held from 10 am to 5 pm. Demo assignments were discussed. Please bring your dyed fiber from last year’s retreat, along with your alpaca fiber challenge project for display. Also, please remember to bring a chair with you!
Minimum bids were discussed regarding the donated equipment to be presented for silent auction at our annual fall retreat at Davis Creek Park. A motion was made to save out 3 shuttles for use with our guild looms. Motion approved. The rest of the equipment will be auctioned.
Reminder re: Celtic Fair, October 1st and 2nd at Bartley Ranch Park. Guild received a thank you from the UNR cooperative extension regarding the guild participation in Farm City Days this past April. Thank you to Connie Vann, for heading up last month’s meeting. A note from Doris regarding the pregnant ewe that was due in March - she had two spotted lambs! Congratulations Doris! (and mommy sheep!)
New Business: It was decided that there will no longer be pot luck lunches during guild meetings. Every meeting will be brown bag with the exception of our Christmas and fall retreat meetings. If you are hosting a meeting at your residence, and would like to have a potluck, that would be acceptable. Please assist Virva with the coffee set up and clean up so we can continue with coffee at meetings.
The guild blog will be changed to reflect the new officers. Please re submit your classified ads if any. All current classified ads will be removed. You must be a member to post an ad for a sale item.
Mim might need one more person to assist with the judges choice fiber for the upcoming alpaca show. Please contact Mim for further details.
A discussion was held regarding the Black Sheep Gathering to be held in Eugene Oregon this June. Members who attend should plan on sharing their experience with the members who were unable to attend please. Discussion was held regarding Sock Summit 2 to be held in Portland Oregon in July. Again, if you attend, please share your experience with the guild. Discussion regarding retreat activities. Retreat is held at Davis Creek Park.
Sadly, it was brought to our attention, that Delux Yarns is closing. The store is located on Wells Ave. in Reno. 50% off inventory. Today’s meeting learning tree is all about entrelac knitting with Barbara Hunt. Next meeting’s learning tree will be about lavender wand construction with Mim Bullard. The meeting will be held at Mim’s ranch in Red Rock.
Show And Tell: Carol Lopez shared info regarding the spindle retreat. She said it was a fantastic time, and nobody went hungry! Our sympathy goes out to Virva Porcelli and family. Her mother in law passed away just after celebrating her 97th birthday. Sharie Jones showed us her ingenious storage spools made from pipe insulation and fiber board - very creative! Nancy Pryor had a friends Clemes drum carder and a vintage sheep pattern for sale. Virva Porcelli described the annual sheep shearing event held at Mim’s ranch, and shared her alpaca blend helix scarf. Barbara Hunt shared her entrelac socks and a blanket being made out of left over sock yarn. Meeting was adjourned at 12:25, with learning tree to follow after lunch. Thank you Barbara for the entrelac instructions. It was fun to watch how different members absorbed the knitting knowledge! ( p.s. I got it Barbara! This secretary is knitting up her own entrelac scarf! )
Those in attendance were: Janet Drozd, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Sharie L. Jones, Doris Woloszyn, Janet Schuller, Carol Lopez, Amy Shannon, Melissa Tounsend, Connie Vann, Sue Gottsacker, Nancy Pryor, Mimi Bullard, Toni Strassburg

Our next meeting will be at my house, Mim Bullard, and for the Learning Tree we will be making lavender wands. This will depend on the lavender and if it's ready to harvest.

Directions:
Mim Bullard is in Rancho Haven: From Reno, drive north on Hwy 395 to the first Red Rock exit, after the Stead Blvd exit. Drive 20 miles to the Sierra Ranchos Valley, and take the first left (after Jeanette Miller’s alpaca ranch ) onto Arabian. It’s a dirt road but has a county sign. Drive up into the valley and turn left on Rancho, then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle. If you are coming in from California, the north Red Rock exit is 13 miles past the exit for Hwy 70 at Hallelujah Junction and only turns right. Continue four miles from the State line, past the volunteer fire house and turn right on Rancho, at mailbox central. There is a cell signal at the mail boxes. Mim’s number is 775-969-3249. You must use 775. Drive about two miles and turn right on Rancho, then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle.

May 2011 Minutes

2011-06-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

May Meeting Minutes 2011

May’s meeting was held at Doris Woloszyn’s home in the foothills of Sierra Valley California. Thank you, Doris, for the hospitality. The studio provided a cozy atmosphere for our meeting. Connie Vann, our VP, headed up our meeting as Virva was not able to attend. Connie did a great job! The meeting was short, and that gave us time to visit with the ewes and their lambs.
Introductions were made, and the minutes from April were approved.
Treasurer Report: We now have 37 paid members, earned $19 from the last raffle drawing leaving the guild with a balance of $2345.50 on account.
Old Business: The donated loom was repaired. It and the shuttles, bobbin winders, etc. will be put up for silent auction at our retreat in September.
There was discussion regarding the cowboy poetry event to be held in August. Those demonstrating for the event were confirmed.
The date for the upcoming Celtic Fair was confirmed. It is October 1st and 2nd at Bartley Ranch in Reno.
New Business: June learning tree will be a demonstration on Entrelac knitting with Barbara Hunt. Thank you Barbara! A catalog was passed around regarding a weaving and basket works event to be held in Idlewild California July 4th through the 8th , 11th through the 15th 2011. Cost is $655 for the workshop.
Once again spinners are needed for the judges choice portion of an upcoming alpaca show being held in October in Grass Valley California. Spinners interested will be provided with samples of alpaca fleece along with information regarding the criteria involved in the judging of the fleece samples. Score cards are also provided. You as the spinner are asked to spin a sample of each fleece and judge it according to the instructions given. Though it can be time consuming, it is a great opportunity to become more familiar with spinning alpaca. Please contact Mim Bullard if you are interested in being a judge. If you want to participate, please plan on devoting a few weeks during August and September to this commitment. As an incentive, the alpaca organization does compensate for each sample judged.
The learning tree portion of our meeting consisted of an impromptu lesson on Navaho plying on a hand spindle by Sharie Jones. She learned an ingenious method of spinning a single then following it with the plying immediately after. This resulted in a sort of instant gratification as once you were finished with spinning your fiber, it could be removed from the spindle already plied! What was really impressive, was the fact that Sharie has only been spinning for a relatively short time, and here she is showing what she has learned. Mim also gave a demonstration of Navaho plying on a wheel. She made it look so smooth and effortless. Thanks to both ladies for sharing their knowledge.
Show And Tell: Sharie - Kool Aid dyed Entrelac hat, ‘helix’ scarf died with food color and cabbage. Mim - Shetland fleece samples, short story regarding photos taken for Edible Reno Tahoe, a local magazine about restaurants and sustainable food sources in our area, done while she was having her annual sheep shearing at her ranch.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 pm.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Marilynn Clarke, Connie Vann, Janet Schueller, Vicki Johnson, Janet Drozd, Nancy Grundy, Carol Lopez, Eileen Jacobs, Doris Woloszyn, Peggy Horan, Mark Lindsay, Nicole Kelly, Jo Van Winkle, Mim Bullard, Sharie Jones, Linda Lindsay.

Our next meeting is June 11th at Sky Peak Ranch

Sky Peak Ranch: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1520+SKY+VALLEY+DRIVE+RENO+NV+89523+(775)747-9555 You can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side.

April 2011 Minutes

2011-05-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

April 2011 Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am at Bartley Ranch. Introductions followed.
Minutes from the last meeting are up. Please check for any errors.
Treasurer Report: Five dues were paid for a total of $125, last month’s raffle netted $37, we paid out $300 as a donation to Nevada State Fair, paid $20 to Pat Ecdall for repair to donated loom, leaving the guild with $2301.50 in account. There are currently 36 paid members.
Also, we are in need of supplies for the spindle kits. Doris is going to work on getting our supplies when members of the local woodworking club order theirs, so that we may get a discount due to ordering in bulk.
Library: Heidi brought books from our guild library. They were made available for checkout prior to the end of the meeting. She also shared four books that she felt we as a guild needed in our library. She stated that with exception to a couple of new purchases, most of our books are fairly old, and felt we would benefit by adding some books on new techniques and ideas. It was decided that the guild would spend $100 yearly on new books for our library. It was voted and approved.
Old business: There is some donated supplies, tapestry loom, and bobbin winders that will be put up for silent auction at our annual fall retreat. Research is being made in order to decide what the starting bids should be on each item. Donated items are being stored at Doris’ home.
We will be attending the Cowboy Poetry event at Bartley Ranch in August. The marketplace will be open from about 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday August 20th. Please let Virva know if you can donate some time that day to participate in demos, or just to sit and spin. Upcoming events also include: Farm City Days April 14, 15th Fuji Park in Carson City; Spindle retreat in Dobbins Ca. May 19 - 22; Celtic Fair September 24, 25 at Bartley Ranch Park.
There was a brochure passed around regarding a location in Soda Springs California, that might be used as a location for a retreat or other guild function.
Raffle: Barbara needs more items for the raffle. If you have anything you think would make a nice raffle prize, please let Barbara know. All proceeds from the raffle go to the guild.
New Business: It was decided that in lieu of a hospitality person, those interested may take a place setting from the box, and bring it to each meeting that involves a pot luck lunch. Black Sheep Gathering is coming up June 23 - 26th. Is anyone going to go? May meeting will be held at Doris’ home. It will be brown bag. Plan on bringing a chair, hat, and sunscreen. See the blog for directions. Learning tree - please check with Mim and take a look at the list to see if there is anything you want to see addressed. Discussion followed regarding what some of the members would like to see for learning tree. Nevada Museum of Art is holding a beginning tapestry weaving workshop. The fee is $75 for materials, or $10 if you provide your own loom. Workshop dates are May 14 -15th and May 24 - 25th. Please check their website for more information.

Show And Tell: Sharon - dual purpose scarf, Doris - 2 week old lamb, Sherrie - felted slippers, Heidi - puppies, birthday book regarding variegated yarn, Janet - mittens with Buddy on them, Sue - lace tatted butterflies, bulletin regarding tatted butterfly info, Jo - wolf fur bracelet, Connie - Black sweater from alpaca challenge fiber mixed with sheep wool from Doris and Wayne, also blanket with multicolored hand painted yarn, Mim - fiber, Barbara - shawl.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, Jo Van Winkle, Gail Hock, Lois Leeming, Carrie Austin, Connie Vann, Nancy Grundy, (who we hope is recovering from her surgery!) Sue Gottsacker, Mim Bullard, Barbara Greene, Virva Porcelli, Sharon Campbell, Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Doris Woloszyn, Marilynn Clarke, Sharrie Jones, Heidi Ericson

Doris Woloszyn’s in Chilcoot, California. Hwy. 395 north from Reno, past Bordertown into California. Exit 395 at Hwy. 70 to Portola/Quincy, turn left on Hwy. 70 going west for about 2 miles. Turn left on Scott Road after crossing Long Valley Creek, before going up Beckwourth Pass. Scott Road is dirt, and after 4/10 mile to the railroad crossing you’ll pass 2 homes(stay left on main road, not right up the hill), the railroad tracks and creek will be on your left.

Below is directions for Connie's poncho. I'll work on getting a picture to post with this pattern.

CONNIE'S DISHRAG PONCHO

Using worsted weight yarn and size 4 or 5 needles, cast-on 2 sts. Knit across. At beg of e/row, cast-on 1 st and knit across. Do this until you have 20 sts on the needle. To make a striped block, tie-on a new color of yarn, and cut-off the old color. For next row, do NOT make an increase at beginning of row. Knit across. For remaining rows, bind-off 1 st at beg of each row until you have 2 sts left of the needle. Bind-off last 2 sts, and tuck in tails. Throw finished block into a bag for safekeeping. To make a solid block, repeat above pattern, omitting the second color tie-on at the halfway point.

To construct poncho, you will need 4 completed blocks, alternating stripes with solids, start sewing them into a triangular structure. The first row will contain 1 block, the second row will contain 3 blocks, the third row will contain 5 blocks, etc., etc. Keep the stripes going in the same direction throughout the piece, if possible. Make 2 large triangles the same size. Lay one triangle down on the floor, and lie down on the triangle, centering your body. Lay arms out flat at a 45 degree angle from the body to see how much "wingspan" your poncho will require. Mine reaches from the wrist bone to the collar bone on each side. Next, construct 2 strips of blocks the same size and sew each strip to both the front and back triangles, joining the entire piece together, and leaving a neck opening that is 5 blocks long and 1 block wide at center-top of poncho.

Knit 4 triangles in the same manner as you would knit one-half a striped block, and sew each triangle into the 4 inner corners of the neck opening, thus creating a more streamlined neckline. Pick up 4 sts and leave 1 st behind around entire neckline. If you don't end up with an even number, make one st. Make a k2, p2 ribbing at neckline that extends for 8" and bind-off. You may stripe the ribbing with colors from the poncho.

To finish, tuck in all tails. Then, slip-stitch an edging around the entire outer edge of poncho using silk ribbon. Pick out a ribbon that has colors from your poncho. The edging will give the poncho more stability and a more finished look.

Tip: Use kid mohair for stitching blocks together.
Tip: Either do a color scheme, or your own free-form design. Number each block the way you want it to appear when you lay it out.
Decide how you want your rows to look before you sew the blocks together.

Connie Vann

May 14, 2011 Meeting

2011-05-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

April 2011 Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am at Bartley Ranch. Introductions followed.

Minutes from the last meeting are up. Please check for any errors.

Treasurer Report: Five dues were paid for a total of $125, last month’s raffle netted $37, we paid out $300 as a donation to Nevada State Fair, paid $20 to Pat Ecdall for repair to donated loom, leaving the guild with $2301.50 in account. There are currently 36 paid members.

Also, we are in need of supplies for the spindle kits. Doris is going to work on getting our supplies when members of the local woodworking club order theirs, so that we may get a discount due to ordering in bulk.

Library: Heidi brought books from our guild library. They were made available for checkout prior to the end of the meeting. She also shared four books that she felt we as a guild needed in our library. She stated that with exception to a couple of new purchases, most of our books are fairly old, and felt we would benefit by adding some books on new techniques and ideas. It was decided that the guild would spend $100 yearly on new books for our library. It was voted and approved.

Old business: There is some donated supplies, tapestry loom, and bobbin winders that will be put up for silent auction at our annual fall retreat. Research is being made in order to decide what the starting bids should be on each item. Donated items are being stored at Doris’ home.

We will be attending the Cowboy Poetry event at Bartley Ranch in August. The marketplace will be open from about 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday August 20^th. Please let Virva know if you can donate some time that day to participate in demos, or just to sit and spin. Upcoming events also include: Farm City Days April 14, 15^th Fuji Park in Carson City; Spindle retreat in Dobbins Ca. May 19 - 22; Celtic Fair September 24, 25 at Bartley Ranch Park.

There was a brochure passed around regarding a location in Soda Springs California, that might be used as a location for a retreat or other guild function.

Raffle: Barbara needs more items for the raffle. If you have anything you think would make a nice raffle prize, please let Barbara know. All proceeds from the raffle go to the guild.

New Business: It was decided that in lieu of a hospitality person, those interested may take a place setting from the box, and bring it to each meeting that involves a pot luck lunch. Black Sheep Gathering is coming up June 23 - 26^th. Is anyone going to go? May meeting will be held at Doris’ home. It will be brown bag. Plan on bringing a chair, hat, and sunscreen. See the blog for directions. Learning tree - please check with Mim and take a look at the list to see if there is anything you want to see addressed. Discussion followed regarding what some of the members would like to see for learning tree. Nevada Museum of Art is holding a beginning tapestry weaving workshop. The fee is $75 for materials, or $10 if you provide your own loom. Workshop dates are May 14 -15^th and May 24 - 25^th. Please check their website for more information.

Show And Tell: Sharon - dual purpose scarf, Doris - 2 week old lamb, Sherrie - felted slippers, Heidi - puppies, birthday book regarding variegated yarn, Janet - mittens with Buddy on them, Sue - lace tatted butterflies, bulletin regarding tatted butterfly info, Jo - wolf fur bracelet, Connie - Black sweater from alpaca challenge fiber mixed with sheep wool from Doris and Wayne, also blanket with multicolored hand painted yarn, Mim - fiber, Barbara - shawl.

Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, Jo Van Winkle, Gail Hock, Lois Leeming, Carrie Austin, Connie Vann, Nancy Grundy, (who we hope is recovering from her surgery!) Sue Gottsacker, Mim Bullard, Barbara Greene, Virva Porcelli, Sharon Campbell, Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Doris Woloszyn, Marilynn Clarke, Sharrie Jones, Heidi Ericson

The May 14th Guild Meeting is at Doris Woloszyn’s High Plains Woolies Ranch in Chilcoot, California. Brown Bag.

Driving directions (as provided by Doris in 2009, but I don't suppose it has changed): Hwy. 395 north from Reno, past Bordertown into California. Exit 395 at Hwy. 70 to Portola/Quincy, turn left on Hwy. 70 going west for about 2 miles. Turn left on Scott Road after crossing Long Valley Creek, before going up Beckwourth Pass. Scott Road is dirt, and after 4/10 mile to the railroad crossing you’ll pass 2 homes (stay left on main road, not right up the hill), the railroad tracks and creek will be on your left.

Continue south on Scott Road for one and a half miles to a small bridge over Scott Creek.
Another 4/10 mile to a large Cottonwood tree and the 3rd home, this is where the county stops grading the road so it’s a little rougher. Another 2/10 mile to several buildings on hill with SPRAGUE sign, but stay to left and pass the driveway. Next 3/10 mile the road curves from left to right up a small hill. Stay to the right at the fork, going up the hill and look for my 404-185 sign on a “rock jack” fence corner. This is where you turn right onto my driveway.

My driveway is 4/10 mile, first straight with a wooden fence on the left and barb wire fence on the right, then at the next group of rock jacks curve right, down over the culvert and uphill to my house …cedar siding with a dark green metal roof and large wooden barn in back. Sounds complicated but there are very few places out here. I’ll try to put up some signs to help. Call 530-993-4296 if you have questions or need help.

Minuets for March 2011

2011-04-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

SPRING in NEVADA

Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers Guild meeting was held at South Valley Library March 8th 2011
Meeting started at 11 am with introductions.
Treasurer Report: Doris stated she was given 2 dues, we sold 5 spindle kits. The liability insurance, $519 was paid for the year, leaving the guild with a total of $2422.50 in account. There are currently 31 paid members.
Fair Report: The Nevada State Fair was canceled for the year 2011. The fair is working on paying debts for last year, and trying to avoid bankruptcy. The guild voted to donate $300.00 to the state fair to help. The vote was yes, so Doris will provide a check to Amy to give to the state fair board.
No Weaving Study update.
Denise Quirk was present as a representative of the Soroptomist Club, to inform us about the cowboy poetry reading event to be held at Bartley Ranch on August 19th and 20th. They are expanding the program to include a marketplace, and have invited our guild members to participate. Discussion followed regarding participation. If you are interested in being a vendor at this event, please contact Denise for resale information. If you are interested in participating with the guild, please let Virva know.
There is some donated equipment, specifically a tapestry loom, bobbin winders, and shuttles that will be made available for silent auction at our annual retreat in the fall.
Don’t forget the spindle retreat in Dobbins Ca, May 19th - 22nd. It looks like many of our members will be attending and it sounds like fun.
New Business: Carson City Farm Days will be held April 14, 15th at Fuji park in Carson City. There will be an area indoors where members from the guild will be demonstrating for the children. Toni and Ellen will be outside in the barn area with a llama and an alpaca. The children love this event. They ask great questions, and are usually very attentive. You are welcome to come and participate. Lunch is provided. Plan on being there from about 8:30 am to about 1:30 pm each day. Bring your wheel, or something else you thing the kids might be interested in learning about.
In the latest issue (spring 2011) of Spin off magazine, Stephanie’s helix scarf project is featured. It is a great article, and includes a scarf that Nancy Prior knit up. Also available through the interweave store is the Aldon Amos dvd (ready for pre order), and Stephanie’s spinning cotton dvd.
The date for the Celtic Fair may be changed. As of now, it is September 24 and 25th, but this could change. Update will be made available as soon as we are notified.
Jeanette Miller of Sierra Nevada Alpaca in Red Rock is looking for homes for some of her alpacas. If you or someone you know is interested in owning a couple of alpacas, please contact Jeanette at 775-969-3871 for more information.
Show and Tell: Mim - Shetland hats spun and presented as kits. Sharon - fabric purchased in New York sewn up into a pair of pajamas offered up for the raffle. Melanie- mink yarn, bone needles, ufo hat. Sharie - color dye books Wild Color and Color in Spinning.
The meeting was adjourned with a demo of a McMorran yarn balance by Sharon, and the second dvd Gentle Art of Plying by Judith MacKenzie to follow.
Those in attendance at the meeting were: Toni Strassburg, David Armer, Melanie Carr, Denise Quirk, Virva Porcelli, Sharie L. Jones, Carol Lopez, Barbara Greene, Victoria Klasch, Amy Shannon, Libby Hejny, Janet Drozd, Marilyn Clarke, Doris Woloszyn, Peggy Horan, Carolyn Thompson, Sharon Campbell, Mim Bullard, Jo Van Winkle.
Our next meeting on April 9th will be a pot luck at:
Bartley Ranch:. Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House

Toni sent in a cool story about her "WINTER BLUES"

I got bored one day not too long ago because I think it was snowing outside and I could not go out and play so I decided to play indoors. It started with some roving I had been saving, bought at the SOAR marketplace back in 2006. I had finally spun it up. It was something put out as a special SOAR blend called Deep Waters, Dark Woods produced for Carolina Homespun to celebrate SOAR being held at Lake Tahoe. It turned out beautiful as singles, but I had some reserve about plying it together. I also wanted the 4 ounces spun up to go a bit further, so I decided to find something else to ply it with. I dug through the copious fiber bins upstairs in my wool room, and found some white tussah silk I purchased from Mim a while back. Just the right thing to pair with the mixed blend textured singles, but it was white. Who wants to spin boring old white when you can have say, blue fiber to spin? I dug out my big dyepot and the rest of my gear, and (CAREFULLY) set about mixing up a blue that would compliment and be reminiscent of the water at Lake Tahoe. Using Gail Callahan's Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece as a guide, I managed to put a nice deep blue in my white silk. I used a mixture of blue, violet, and black from a dye kit produced by Judith MacKenzie. After letting the exhausted dye bath cool, I removed the fiber and hung it along side the fireplace to dry. The next day I had blue silk to spin. I have since finished the spinning, and the yarn sits in a basket next to my chair while I decide what to make with it. I was a bit hesitant to dye fiber in the kitchen, but with the instruction from the book and attention to safety, it was a day well spent. Toni

SILK BLEND BEFORE

SILK BLEND DURING

SILK BLEND AFTER

DEEP WATER DARK FOREST

FINISHED YARN

Faeries

2011-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

This was sent in by Carolyn "I came across these two little stories about spinners and thought they were cute and funny."

Woman spinning flax using a drop spindle and distaff.

MS Fr. 599, f. 40, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

15^th c. France

Excerpt from a book entitled The Faeryland Companion by Beatrice Phillpotts 1999 Barnes & Nobel Books

Spinners and Shoemakers

The Faeries had a great reputation for various skills. Faery women were famous as spinners and dyers, while the Leprechaun was a celebrated shoemaker.

                Magical dyes were concocted from lichen, roots, bark, leaves and fruit. A faery pool near Loch Lomond in Scotland, where the water was of a peculiar shade of green, was believed to be the site of a faery dying factory. It was abandoned however, when their mortal neighbours came to investigate. The faeries did not have time to remove their equipment and were forced to leave it at the bottom of the pool – hence its strange colour.

                The Scots had a faery patron of spinning called Habetrot. In “The Three Spinners” by William Henderson in Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties, he describes how Habetrot helped a beautiful but lazy peasant girl to win the local laird for a husband by spinning for her.

                The girl was ordered by her mother to spin, but could produce only “a few feet of lumpy, uneven thread”. She came across an old woman, who was the skilled spinner Habetrot. She offered to spin the lint for the girl and promptly vanished. But the girl spied her in an underground faery hall: “…she saw a great cavern, with a number of queer old wives sitting spinning in it, each on a white marble stone.”

                The local laird rode past the girl’s cottage the following morning and was so impressed by the “smoothness and evenness of the skeins that the faeries had spun, that he proposed marriage to her on the spot. She accepted but knew there would be trouble, because he “kept talking of all the fine yarn she would be spinning for him after the wedding.” She asked Habetrot for help, and she invited them both into her faery cavern. The laird asked why the spinners all had long lips and spoke with a stutter. When Habetrot told him that his new wife would be just like them soon, because she loved spinning so much, he lost all his enthusiasm for fine yarns and forbade her to do any more spinning.

Some faeries preferred using man-made wheels to their own and would steal into cottages at night to do their spinning. Residents of the Isle of Man tried to prevent them from doing this, but usually failed, as in the following story from Sophia Morrison’s Manx Fairy Tales:

                “Some time in the night my brother wakened me with a: “Shish! Listen boy, and look at the big light in the kitchen!”

                “Listen!” I said, “it must be the Little Ones that’s agate of the wheel!”

                And both of us got very frightened. In the morning we told what we had seen.

                “Aw, like enough, like enough,” my Father said, looking at the wheel. “It seems your mother forgot to take the band off last night, a thing people should be careful about, for it’s givin’ Themselves power over the wheel.””

February 2011 Minutes

2011-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Meeting was brought to order by our president Virva.
Secretary Doris gave her report. We have 29 paid members and she will pay the insurance due in March.
Connie Vann has excepted the V.P. position.
Fair Report by Amy: The fair is in dire need of funds this year. It is not sure yet if there will be a State Fair this year in August. It was mentioned that if possible we will donate some money to help the fair this year. We should know more by the March meeting. We also talked about other venues for the guild to participate in this year. Should look into Wooster Highs "reskilling" day. There is a conflict with doing the Celtic Fair this year. It will be in September on the same weekend as the Retreat.
Sharie is collecting pictures of members and the projects they do. Please send her pictures of you with your fiber animals or spinning and knitting to collect for the fair displays.
Fair Challenge: Everyone is working with their fiber, black Alpaca.
Would anyone like to be in charge of "Hospitality"? If not Virva will keep the coffee pot and the rest of us please bring your own dish and eating utensils at all pot luck lunches. Plus we all need to help Virva clean up after each meeting.
Heidi reported that she has our brochure for all events we attend ready to print.
New Business: The guild received a LeClerc Loom complete with shuttles. We will talk about an auction to sell everything as a fund raiser for the guild.
It was brought up that on August 19th and 20th, from 12 noon to 5 that is a Friday and Saturday this year there will be a Cowboy Poetry get together. We are invited to spin and sell our hand made products. This would be a great venue to bring some fiber animals. Will try and see if Toni and Jeannette would bring their llamas and alpacas and maybe a few sheep. Virva will check to see if we need a business license to sell.
Raffle: Barbara needs stuff to raffle at the monthly meetings. All fiber related stuff please bring to the meetings. Sharon donated a pair of hand knit socks this month!
The Learning Tree was Q&A. We talked about blocking knitted items.
Show and Tell: Marilyn brought a skein of her black Alpaca fiber challenge fiber mixed with silk and wool and spun with beads added.
Melanie: showed us her pouch made with a medal ruler used as a closure, her new interchangeable knitting needles and her valentine yarn vase with crochet hooks.
Heidi: hand spun woven scarf, and her alpaca/angora/silk noil
Mim: four felt scarves from fiber purchased at Black Sheep last year.
Barbara G: beautiful yarn dyed with food colors
Sharie: hand dye yarn, and first pair of hand knit socks, and first Navajo plied yarn
Sharon: had her hand spun hand knit shrug
Barbara H: had her "Stephine" scarf made with sock yarn
Connie: had a shrug also knit by her friend
Malinda: brought her first pair of knit socks
Attendance:
Mim Bullard, Sharon Campbell,Sharie L. Jones,Nancy Grundy,Janet Drozd,Barbara Greene, Barbara Hunt,Melanie Carr,Perry Louie,Doris Woloszyn,Marilyn Clarke,Virva Porcelli,Carol Lopez,Connie Vann'Amy Shannon Heidi Ericson,Judy Wells,Malinda Parks, Karen Starr
Our March meeting will be held at:

South Valleys Library: will be held in the multi-purpose room. Driving directions: Exit onto Mt Rose Hwy from Hwy 395 and proceed west to the first stop light, which is Wedge Parkway. Turn right and continue about a mile. Turn right on Whites Creek Ln. The library is bright yellow and quite visible.

Brown bag and we will be watching the last half of our DVD " The Gentle Art of Plying"

New Items For Sale

2011-01-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

January minutes 2011
Meeting was called to order at 11 am. Introductions were made, and there were three new people present.
From Amy: Please give her your email info for updates. She also explained differences between the email list and the yahoo group.
November and December minutes were approved.
Treasurer Report: Dues are due now. $25 for the year. Current balance is $2476.50. There were 44 paid members for 2010. Our biggest expense, $512 is liability insurance which is coming due for this year.
Weaving Study Group: Will meet at Badlands Motorcycle, 1554 Linda Way in Sparks at 10 am. February weaving study group would like to meet on the 26th. If you would like to host this meeting, please contact Nancy Pryor.
Fair Report: No info at this time.
Old Business: List of meetings updated on blog. Linda Lindsay’s pocket slipper pattern posted on blog. Fiber challenge: There is still bags of alpaca fiber available if you want to participate. All projects will be displayed at the Nevada State Fair. Please contact Nancy Pryor for alpaca fiber. She noted that even if you just spin a skein of yarn and don’t actually make something out of it, it is still acceptable as a finished project.
New officers are as follows: Virva - President, Connie - Vice president upon verification, Doris - treasurer, Toni - secretary, Mimi - learning tree and blog, Amy - fair coordinator, Barbara - raffle, Heidi - library. We are still looking for someone to take over the task of hospitality and perhaps handling publicity.
It was suggested that the guild equipment should be rounded up into one place each year to inspect it and make sure each item is in working condition. Have you read a new book or watched any of the new dvds? A book or video review would be great information to add to the blog. Please send your review to Mimi so she can post it to share with the rest of the members.
Today’s learning tree is part one of the Gentle Art of Plying. Part two will be shown after the March meeting at South Valley Library. Sharon has info regarding spindle camp. Camp dates are May 20, 21 2011. It is being held with members from Foothill Fiber Guild. Location is Lake Francis Resort near Dobbins (Grass Valley Nevada City area) California. There is an optional Thursday night, the 19th planned. A head count for reservations and camping preferences is needed asap. Please contact Sharon for more information.
New Business: List of activities is located on the sidebar of blog. Sharie would like to make a guild collage with pictures from guild activities in the past. If you have photos of anything you would like to share, please let Sharie know.
Show And Tell: Virva, new sweater, yarn from Mim’s Shetland roving. Nancy, modular knitting pattern hats and sweater pieces. Amy, fingerless mitts with pattern on her blog Purple Fuzzy Mittens. Marilyn, shawl turned sweater. Heidi, merino/silk wrap and candy corn color dyed yarn. Mimi, itty bitty sweater ornaments knit from Shetland, alpaca, silk, merino, angora. From a pattern found on Ravelry. Judy, a ‘husband made’ wooden yarn swift. Carolyn, purse made of leftover yarn. Libby, dyed bamboo merino beaded scarf. Barbara, sock yarn from Mimi’s merino bamboo fiber.
Meeting adjourned at 12:05 for lunch and dvd viewing afterward.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, David Armer, Carol Lee Lopez, Sharon Campbell, Victoria Klasch, Eileen Jacobs, Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Barbara Greene, Janet Schueller, Carolyn Thompson, Janet Drozd, Judy Wells, Mim Bullard, Melanie Carr, Heidi Ericson, Doris Woloszyn, Sue Kelly, Marilyn Clarke, Amy Shannon, Nancy Pryor, Virva Porcelli

Check out the new items Allison has on our "Classified" page at the top of this blog. I also want to let you know that for the "Learning Tree" we will be having the "Questions and Answer" time after our meeting on February 12th. If there is anything you have been wanting to know bring your questions and will find an answer for you!

I will post the minuets for January as soon as I get them from Toni. Till then I hope your enjoying our beautiful weather.
Mim

Pocketbook Slippers

2010-12-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute little project sent in by Linda Lindsay. Easy fun and quick. Bet you could even get some done by Christmas if started by tonight!

Pocketbook Slippers

Recommended - size 7 needles and worsted yarn

Cast on 5 stitches
Knit 6 rows
Next row – increase in 2nd stitch of each row until you have 23 stitches on the needle.
Next row – increase in each stitch until you have 46 stitches
Next row – knit 2, purl 2 for 40 rows – about 6 inches
Next row – knit 2 tog until you have 23 stitches on the needle
Next row – Decrease in 2nd stitch at beginning of every row until you have 5 stitches left
Knit 12 rows
Cast off, fold in half and sew the ribbed section together at the ends. Overlap one end of the 5 stitch (strap) end over the other, and sew. Decorate with a button or whatever takes your fancy!

December 2010 Minutes

2010-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

December 2010 Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 11 am, at Nancy Grundy’s home in Carson City. Thank you very much Nancy, for welcoming us. Meetings at Nancy’s house are always very comfortable! We also had a new person in attendance. Welcome Sue Kelly!
Ellen Goldsmith came with her inventory of new alpaca items for sale. If you wanted something and missed this opportunity, please contact Toni Strassburg for information.
The November minutes were not available online as of the meeting date.
Treasurer Report: Doris stated we have paid the reservation for Davis Creek Park, with a $100 refundable deposit. Total balance in account is $2164.50. Dues for 2011 are now due - $25 should be given to Doris please.
Weaving study group will meet January 22nd in Sparks, at 1554 Linda Way. It is a business, however there is space available to set up looms, with chairs. Toni Strassburg will be hosting this meeting. Please contact her if you need more information.
No fair report at this time.
We are still looking for a person to take on publicity. Perhaps there are people in the guild who would be willing to share the responsibility?
Reminder, January 2011 meeting will be held at South Valley Library, so we can view the Gentle Art of Plying DVD part 1. Virva was looking into reserving the library in March, so we can view the second DVD of the same series.
Fiber Challenge: 21 people are signed up to participate! Bags of fiber were passed out at the meeting. Nancy Pryor mentioned there is a bit of vegetable matter in the fiber, and will work with anyone who is having a problem cleaning up the fiber to use. She mentioned some carding methods to eliminate most of the vm. You can add anything you want to the fiber in order to finish your project, and it can be anything of your choosing, so use your imagination. Projects must be finished in August, and will be displayed in our tent during Nevada State Fair.
New guild officers were discussed. Connie Vann is interested in serving as vice president. Virva is willing to continue as president. Also interested in continuing their offices are Toni Strassburg as secretary, Mimi Bullard as learning tree and newsletter, Amy Shannon as webmistress. Barbara Hunt said she would like to assume the raffle duties. We still need someone to take on the hospitality position. This entails bringing the box with the coffee things, and dishes for the potluck meetings.
Update! The equipment list will be on the blog.
New Business: The Great Basin Basket Weavers Newsletter is available if you want to read it. Intermountain Weavers Conference info is also available. Doris has copies of the Heifer International and CERF newsletters available too.
Helen McFarland was in attendance, and she has brand new (eyes just opening!) Welsh Corgi puppies. They will be available for sale as soon as they are old enough. If you are interested, please contact Helen for more information.
Amy mentioned speaking with Kay Fowler. Kay has two Navaho Churro sheep she is trying to find good homes for. Please contact Amy for information if you are interested in providing a home for these sheep. Both are gelded males.
Show and Tell: Barbara; a very nice vest made of Doris’ sheep Ava and merino/soy sock yarn she purchased from Mim, also hand dyed alpaca sock blank. Janet; 2 ply yarn sample spun by Toni, of her dog Buddy’s fur. Estes; green acrylic and angora bunny fur hat. Linda; pocket sock pattern and sample.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Janet Drozd, Doris Woloszyn, Nancy Pryor, Connie Vann, Helen McFarland, Nancy Grundy, Sue Kelly, Heidi Ericson, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Melanie Carr, Perry Louie, Virva Porcelli, Estes Ward, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Janet Schueller, Amy Shannon, Karen Starr

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years

January meeting will be at:

November 2010 Minutes

2010-12-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

November Minutes 2010
Meeting was called to order at 11 am. Meeting was held at Skypeaks
Introductions were made. A couple of new people are in attendance.
Minutes from October were approved.
Treasurers Report: $2436.50 in account. Reservations for Davis Creek Park were made.
Weaving Study Group: Meeting was held at Connie’s home. Next meeting tentatively scheduled for January in Sparks. Nancy also shared info regarding Stephanie’s Helix Scarf project.
Old Business: Scholarship Fund. Fair Report: Jan is no longer with the Guild, so she is no longer working with the fair board. Amy attended the first fair board meeting. 2011 State Fair date: August 24 through 28. The new State Fair theme was very well received by public. Fair office was moved to Mill Street. Changes to fair book must be made by December 16th. Guild must supply chains and locks for gates on guild tent. Angora was eliminated from wool show. Categories redefined for lace and crochet. Handwoven categories redefined. Felting now reduced to wet and dry categories. Number of entries upped from two per person to four per person.
It was decided we need someone from the guild to handle publicity.
Heidi still working on brochure. Doris is working on guild equipment list. Heidi working on getting guild library ready. January meeting is going to be held at South Valley Library in order to be able to view the Gentle Art of Plying DVD. This is made available for January Learning Tree. We could use books on dye process. If you have anything you think might be of interest to the guild, please make your donation to the guild library. Amy addressed gmail and yahoo accounts. Gmail is only to be used by Amy to get info out to guild members. Next year’s meeting list will be posted on blog with info regarding lunch options (brown bag or potluck) Brown bag months are: Jan, March, May, July, Aug, and Nov. All other months are designated as potluck. A BIG thank you to Virva for her work on the fair.
New Business: An invitation was extended to all members by the Job’s Peak Fiber Arts Guild, to attend their meetings. Job’s Peak holds their meetings the 3rd Saturday of every month in Gardnerville Nevada.
Spindle Retreat is scheduled for May 20 through 22. Everyone who attended last year had a great time, so please think about attending. This is a joint effort with Foothill Fiber Guild.
Nancy Pryor discussed a new fiber challenge. She would be furnishing the fiber. Results from challenge will be on display at Nevada State Fair. Projects from challenge should be finished no later than August. Please see Nancy to sign up.
It’s that time of year again! Please think about nominations for guild officers for 2011.
Show and Tell: Nancy - Indigo dyed skeins and sock blanks. Sharon - Rosepath sampler for weaving.
Sharie - Skeins dyed at retreat, hat. Amy - Purple merino cardigan. Heidi - Howard Brush drum carder with fiber.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Janet Drozd, Sharon Campbell, Mimi Bullard, Perry Louie, Melanie Carr, Sharie L. Jones, Heidi Ericson, Amy Shannon, Karen Starr, Marilyn Clarke, Doris Woloszyn, David Armer, Eileen Jacobs, Nancy Pryor, Sue Kelley, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Karen Gallio

Minutes October 2010

2010-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

President Virva opened the meeting. Treasures report was given by Doris. We received our $100.00 deposit back for the retreat at Davis Creek. 42 paid members. Doris has two new DVD's for the guild. "Popular Wheel Mechanics" and "The Gentle Art of Plying" . Virva will be trying to get the South Library scheduled for January and March so we can use their equipment to show the DVD's for the Learning Tree at the meetings.
The Weaving group has not had a meeting in the last few months. Octobers meeting will be at Connie Vanns home on October 30th. Nancy will continue to put more information about the meetings on the Yahoo list.

Old Business: Jen will continue to go to the Fair meetings for the guild. She also talked about the great response on the Fair in general. Many of the Fair public were not a aware of our presence at the fair so it was brought up that we should do more advertising to the public about the different venues we will be at threw out the year.
It was suggested that some one volunteer as "Press Agent" to the guild and have a flier printed up with all the places we will attend, Celtic Fair, Western Heritage, State Fair, Farm City etc. Any other suggestions for events to attend will be welcome!
Virva canceled Bartley Ranch for the Christmas meeting and it will be held at Nancy Grundy's this year. yeaaa
Library: Heidi will have a get together at her house on the 29th of October to sort threw and organize the books in our library.
New Business: Amy has a new Gmail email account to send out notices to the entire membership.
Virva will continue looking for places for the guild to meet in 2011.
Linda reported that the Celtic Fair paid the guild $100.00 dollars for attending their fair! Thank You so much!
Nancy Pryor volunteered to start some type of fiber exchange.
Show and Tell:
Nancy had several Stephanie Scarves.
Heidi great stuff from her trip to OFFF
Libby socks and a beaded scarf
Barbara her Koolaid dyed socks and her new electric spinner!
Doris had her ewe Lillys fleece that won Supreme champion fleece at the Boonville Fiber Show

Sharie demonstrated the home made Kate she made with a carry case, and her first sock (baby size)
Sue showed the fabric off her loom from the Fair
Malinda had some fingerless mitts she made
Mimi's tell was Simon her new Gampr puppy

Learning Tree: "Girl Farm" brought two boxes of Jacob Fleeces for us to try out. Amy and Jo and Virva? took some home to give it a try.
Attendance: Janet Schueller, Virva, Amy, Jen, Heidi, Libby, Barbara, Doris, Janet Drozd, Sharie, Mim, Jo, Sue, Malinda, Connie, Nancy Pryor
Next Meeting: November 13th

Sky Peak Ranch: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1520+SKY+VALLEY+DRIVE+RENO+NV+89523+(775)747-9555 You can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side.

September 2010 Minutes

2010-10-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

The September meeting was held at Davis Creek camp ground during our annual retreat.The meeting was called to order. Treasurers report was read. Spindle kits were sold at the fair in August and money was paid to the fiber judges.
Old Business: We discussed the fair in August and everyone had a wonderful time and wants to continue using the tent. We had a larger tent this year giving us extra room to store things in the back.We all talked about the fair and what we could do to improve next years displays. It was decided to start early and have volunteers to take over different aspects of the fair. Mimi volunteered to organize other members and start get displays together throughout the year. Some from our projects involved with the Learning Tree. Amy will be printing banners for the fair, Marilyn has her natural dyes display. Sheri will have pictures of different sheep breeds. Linda has her wool display and Mim will continue to do the display for the "Sheep to Mittens".
New Business: Heidi will continue to up date our list for the library to be posted on the blog. Any duplicates will be offered in the "White Elephant" sale at the Christmas meeting. Doris is keeping track of the equipment the guild owns and this to will be posted on the blog for members who would like to know what is offered to loan out.
Sharon invited the lady's from "The Girl Farm" to bring their Jacob fleeces they have for sale to the October meeting. Amy is in the process of moving the email list off the UNR server and on to a yahoo list.
Virva will be contacting the library to see if we can use their equipment necessary to show some of the DVD's the guild has now. Hopefully we can use the library room in January or February.
After asking Nancy Grundy if she would like to hold the Christmas meeting at her house again, a vote was taken and Virva will cancel Bartley Ranch and the Christmas meeting will be in Carson City at Nancys. Setting up a car pool to Carson was considered.
Meeting plans for next year will include Sky Peak, Bartley Ranch school house and a few members homes (Doris and Mim) in the spring and summer.
Show and Tell:
Amy had her new needle holder for socks projects.
Nancy handed out patterns and talked about making Stephanie "Ruffle Scarf.
Sharie had her scarf made with size 11 needles
Libby had some raw quivet from Alaska
Attendance: Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Nancy Grundy, Linda Linsay Janet Drozd, Sharon Campbell, Eileen Jacobs, Janet Schueller, Heidi Ericson, Sharie L Jones, Marilyn Clark, Doris Woloszyn, Mim Bullard, Amy Shannon, Allison Judge Melanie Carr, Nancy Pryor.

Learning Tree: After lunch several of the member used koolaid and acid dyes to color their wool!

( Edit12/15/2010 to put August minuets)

Meeting Minutes August 2010

CSSW meeting was held at the home of Hazel Ryland in Carson City Nevada. Thank you Hazel, for opening your studio for us, and making us all feel welcome.
Introductions were made. There were three members of the Job’s Peak Fiber Arts Guild present, Lisa, Marilyn, and Lorrie. Last month’s minutes were approved.
Treasurers Report: $2392.04 in account.
Weaving Study Group: No August meeting.
Old Business: Purchase of the DVD Gentle Art of Plying discussed. Retreat in September and Nevada State Fair was discussed. There was a request for an updated notebook containing guild equipment inventory. Discussion tabled until the September meeting.
If you are planning on attending the Celtic Fair on October 2nd or 3rd at Bartley Ranch, please let Linda Lindsay know.
Mim discussed newsletter with links.
Learning Tree for September will by solar dying. Please bring bags, canning jars, and syringes.
New Business: Homeschool Demo. Dying with deadheads (flowers and plants) to be held at Wilbur May. September 18th. Class given by Marilyn Clarke. Don’t forget gathering at Sharon and Ian Campbell’s home Labor Day weekend.
Meeting was adjourned in order to enjoy Diana Ballard’s presentation. For those of you who weren’t there, Diana presented us with a slide show and Shibori samples from her recent trip to Japan. It was fascinating! She stayed up all night putting everything together for us, and it was awe inspiring. Thank you very much Diana, for entertaining us.
Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Mim Bullard, Rose Flaherty, Hazel Ryland, Sharon Campbell, Virva Porcelli, Lorrie Vining, Marilyn Elligott, Lisa Ann Cohn, Connie Vann, Sue Gottsacker, Marilyn Clarke, Nancy Grundy, Sharie L. Jones, Nancy Pryor, Diana Ballard, Doris Woloszyn, Eileen Jacobs, Janet Drozd.

July 2010 Minutes

2010-07-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

The July meeting was held at Nicole Kelly’s home in Mohawk Vista California. She made us all feel very welcome, and her home is beautiful! Most of us ate lunch on the deck overlooking the pond, meadow, and the beautiful view of Sierra Buttes in the distance. Thank you Nicole for sharing your bit of paradise with us.
The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am, with introductions following. The June minutes were then approved.
Treasurers Report: Doris mentioned the member list is done, 3 dues were paid, there was $30 in donations from the fiber donation, and two spindle kits were sold $10. $2 was donated by Nancy for the Weaving Study Group. Doris purchased the wheel maintenance DVD while at Black Sheep Gathering, thus saving the expense of shipping and tax, for $35. This leaves the guild with a total of $2303.04 in our account. There are 39 paid members.
Weaving Study Group: There was no meeting in June. The group meets in members homes, thus giving those members a chance to work with their individual loom. If there is interest, a meeting can be scheduled for July 24th. Please contact Nancy Prior if you would like to host a meeting on that date.
Old Business: Guild business cards are available, please see Virva if you want some. Heidi is working on the brochures for the guild.

Scholarship Fund: No updates at this time.
This month the raffle consists of 3 books donated by Marilynn Clarke
Newsletter: Sharon has requested a reprieve from the newsletter duties. Mim offered to take it over. THANK YOU! Please be patient while the transition takes place.
Fair Report: Jen had lots to share regarding the state fair. The format of the fair will all be the same as we are used to, though there is changes being made to the content of the fair attractions. Nothing will change in regards to our tent, set up, or entry to the fair. Becky Pennington has offered to judge the fleece and fiber. This news was met with approval from the members present. Entry forms are available online for free, the printed fair booklet is $3. There is a box to check if you are entering as a novice spinner. A spinner is considered novice if she/he has been spinning for 24months or less. Postmarked entries must be submitted by July 30, and online entries have a deadline of August 6th. Set up will be held the Tuesday before the fair, with placement of items inside the tent to happen Wednesday morning before the fair opens. Fair dates are August 25th thru 29th. Please bring samples/items for display, and REMEMBER TO LABEL all items brought in for display to so they go home with their owners! There was some discussion regarding the wheel donated by Eileen Hickey Webber. Would the guild like to award the wheel to the top novice spinner, or would fiber be a better award? Perhaps the wheel could be awarded to the spinner for 1 year? Carolyn also suggested a drawing for spinning lessons and the loan of the wheel. Amy mentioned she would contact Eileen to ask what she would like to see happen with the wheel. Discussion was tabled until the next meeting.
New Business: Amy made a motion to add the DVD and book the Gentle Art of Plying to our library. Motion was approved and passed.
The August meeting is scheduled to be held at Hazel Ryland’s home in Carson City. Marilynn suggested that would be a good time to invite Diana Ballard, a local textile artist, to share highlights from her trip to Japan. Marilynn offered to check with Hazel to make sure she is up to having the guild meeting at her home.
Show and Tell:
Mim: A hat knit by Laura Cunningham from her sheep, Booger, Capistrano fiber roving spun up into yarn, and yarn from her Shetland flock.
Amy: Blanket from Sharon’s sheep, Robbie, and a sheep named Isabella.
Toni: Spindle bought from KCL Woodworks purchased while at BSG
Doris: Roving from Rose and Danica, spindle bought from KCL Woodworks while at BSG
Eileen: spindle bought from KCL Woodworks while at BSG
Nancy: Silk warp / alpaca weft scarf, scarf from alpaca / silk, and a Canadian Saxony wheel made by Alden Amos.
Attendance:
Toni Strassburg, Sue Gottsacker, Nancy Prior, Jen Overby, Doris Woloszyn, Eileen Jacobs, Carolyn Thompson, Virva Porcelli, Perry Louie, Melanie Carr, Marilynn Clarke, Susan Wilson, Therese James, Amy Shannon, Nicole Kelly, Mim Bullard, Pat Green (sp?)
Directions to Hazels house:
Coming from Reno, South on 395. Take Exit #43 onto N Carson St/ business route 395. Turn left onto Arrowhead Rd. pass through 2 runabouts. 257 Arrowhead Rd.is on the right

Hazel adds to the directions, once on Arrowhead Drive, go a 6th of a mile turn right on to Shady Tree Lane, and turn left on to driveway BEFORE my house which is the only one on the left side.ie, there is sage brush then the drive way, if you go past my house you will end up in the Cottonwood Mobile Park

What's been happening in July?

Animal Ark invited Eileen Jacobs to demonstrate at there annual "Hunt for Facts" on July 24th. Eileen has been spinning wolf fiber since last year and knitting items to sell in the Animal Ark gift shop. It is always better to have more than one person and Jo Van Winkle enthusiastically agreed to join Eileen in the demonstration. Jo's daughter, Noelle, also joined them. It was one of the hottest days the area has had but they managed to survive very nicely in the wolf cabana. Although she cannot be seen, Rayna, a lovely white wolf, was located just beyond the windows. When people realized what was being demonstrated they were amazed. Jo and Eileen thoroughly enjoyed their day and it is hoped that Jo will continue with her interest in the wolf fiber. Animal Ark has been very appreciative of our efforts.

Please send jpg pictures and a short write up of your July projects to Mim at: mimsfiber@gmail.com

Classifieds:
FOR SALE: Ashford Tapestry Loom - you can see the loom and it's features here: Bench not included. Used twice, asking $150. Contact Allison at fiberist@sbcglobal.net

June 12th 2010 Meeting Minutes

2010-07-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

The meeting was held at the home of Mimi Bullard in Red Rock. Introductions were made, many new faces were present too. Treasury report: nothing earned since last meeting, currently $2231.04 in the account, and nothing spent.

Weaving Study Group: Nancy and Toni met in Sparks to work on Toni’s loom. Next study group may be hosted at Gary Sue’s home on July 24th. Directions TBA. May minutes approved as posted. There is no fair report at this time. The handwoven/fiber entry form is available on line, and info was passed along at last months meeting. State fair is Aug 26 through 29th. Learning Tree will be fleece skirting and differences in fiber out in the barn after the meeting.

Old Business: Carson City farm days was well attended, and a nice thank you letter was sent to all involved. Please remember guild business cards are available. Please see Heidi or Virva. There was discussion regarding our old guild brochures. Info would need to be updated. Does someone have the files on computer in order to update brochures? Heidi is willing to re-do brochure if it is cost effective.

Thank you to Libby for last month’s Learning tTree. Virva spoke a bit about the Multicultural Festival. People were very interested in our guild. Spindle Retreat Camp: Everyone who attended said it was a great time and plans are in the works to make it an annual event.
Scholarship fund/Library: planning still in works to distribute funds to each. Eileen suggested funds for new books. Suggestions for new books made by Sherrie, Heidi, and Virva. Library offerings are on our website, with more to follow. New items include Alden Amos, Ann Budd, Rag Weaving. Connie suggested reading excerpts from some books for learning tree in order to create interest in the library. Please make a list of books you would like the guild to add to the library. There was no June raffle, however, donations to the guild for the free UNR fleece would be gladly accepted.

New Business: Linda Loken moved to Kelso, Washington. There seem to be many guild members going to Eugene Oregon to attend Black Sheep Gathering. New Western Heritage Festival being held today in Sparks. Jen, Gary Sue, Sherrie, all plan to attend. Tapestry weaving class June 12 and 19th at Nevada Museum of Art. Celtic Fair to be held Oct 2nd and 3rd at Bartley Ranch. Learning tree suggestion is going to be a question and answer panel regarding anything spinning, weaving, fiber related. Submit questions in writing. July meeting is to be held at Nicole Kelly’s home in Blairsden Ca. Toni will verify and get directions.

Show and Tell:
Carolyn: Baby blanket with sheep squares for new baby.
Mim: Sharon’s socks
Marilyn: Spun alpaca from Jeanette Miller’s alpaca
Heidi: Yarns from blending, sock yarn for Mim, finished circular shawl made from cashmere silk blend fiber.
Gary Sue: Wool from Marla, one of Doris’ sheep.
Nancy: Sock blanks, fleece bought on Ebay, wool for sale, silk warp / Webs alpaca silk scarf.
Doris: Shseep samples for 2010
Sherrie: Spun skeins from Mim’s fiber
Mary: Question regarding super spiral shawl from Meg Swanson’s Gathering Lace and announcement regarding a new job. Congratulations!
Meeting adjourned at 12:10 for lunch.

Attendance: Toni Strassburg, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Eileen Jacobs, Heidi Ericson, Sarah Rosenbloom, Cindy Conard, Jacquelyn Conard, Gary Sue Roberts, Nancy Prior, the mysterious “X”, Sherrie L Jones, Sue Gottsacker, Connie Vann, Marilynn Clarke, Doris Woloszyn, Jo Van Winkle, Carolyn Thompson, Mary B, and Virva Porcelli.

Whorled News, July 2010

2010-07-05T08:31:00.001-07:00

The July 10th meeting is at Nicole Kelly's home in Mohawk, California. Meeting time is 11:00 and this is a brown bag lunch.

Driving Directions: From Reno, drive North on 395 to Hallelujah Junction (23 miles). Go left on Hi 70 to Portola (23 miles). Keep going West on 70, about 7 miles out of Portola, turn right on Mohawk Vista drive. Go less than a mile to Road 4 (paved)and take a right. Go 1/2 mile on Road 4, also called Mohawk Road in some GPSs, to a fork in the road. Take the LEFT fork and keep going STRAIGHT up the "paved" road, which is called Betterton Road. As you come up the road you will see a redwood house in the meadow to the right. Driveway is about 1/2 mile from the fork, 69980 Betterton Road. 530-836-4875.

The August 14th meeting will be at Hazel Ryland's home in Carson City. Driving Directions to follow.

NEVADA TERRITORY WILD WEST FAIR INAUGURAL YEAR

Mark your calendars. The 2010 Nevada State Fair is going to be unlike any other in years past. It will continue to offer the fun of the midway, along with livestock, agricultural and lifestyle shows and exhibits. In addition, it will incorporate the living history of how life was in the 1860s-1880s Nevada, acknowledging our pioneer statesmen and women who put our state on the map. Jen continues to work with the planning committee. More than ever, our fiber activities and mission will dovetail with that of the fair. Volunteers will be needed - stayed tuned.

BOOK REVIEW: Heidi Erikson

A short book review and a technique review all in one. For my birthday this year I got Abby Franquemont’s new book Respect the Spindle, Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool. I had met Abby at SOAR last fall and couldn’t wait to read her book. I wasn’t disappointed. It is a very good book to read. There’s a lot of good information without being over whelming.

The technique I just loved goes like this. Take your spun single that you plan to ply back on to itself and make a center pulled ball either with your ball winder or nostepinne then ply together. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. We’ve been doing this for a long time, but wait, there’s more. Before you use that center pull ball to ply, run it back through the ball winder making a multi strand ball. It takes a bit more yarn management to do this but it is very worth it. Now you can ply from this ball. It makes the final plying go so much more smoothly and quickly. In fact plying became a breeze. The reason it becomes easier is because as you ply from the outside and the inside of the ball it collapse in on itself and can get tangled very easily. If you run that center pull ball back through the ball winder, you can control the tension better. You can then ply faster and easier.

I had done something similar when plying finely spun singles of cotton or wool, taking three or more bobbins of finely spun fiber and wound them together before plying because it kept the singles under tension and therefore did not tangle or knot as much.
Here’s some pictures to show you what I did;

First I spun up my single then wound it off into a center pull ballFirst I spun up my single then wound it off into a center pull ball.
Then I took the two ends of the ball and put them together on the ball winder. (Notice how I used my warping peg to hold the center pulled ball? I did this so if I needed to get up and walk away before I was done I could. Clever aren’t I ?)
Then I plyed. (I plyed from the inside out but you can also ply from the outside of the ball in. You could even drop the ball into a bowl at your feet.)

All Done!

BLACK SHEEP GATHERING: Becky Pennington

The last (also the first) time I went to BSG, I thought I was in heaven! I'd never been around sooo many like minded people! When I walked into the building on Friday morning, I was instantly euphoric! So much fiber! By Sunday, I was saturated with fiber, and I was actually ready to come home. Yeah, I know, weird right?
The time between Friday morning and Sunday evening was spent with new friends and old friends, spinning, gawking, buying and admiring all kinds of fiber and breeds of sheep. Mim and I even got to help a shepherd show her romeldales on Saturday morning! That was a treat! I haven't shown sheep in what... well long enough that I really had to think about what I was doing :) Too much fun!
I finally got to meet Michelle and her wonderful sheep! And Lois and her sheep attended, as well as Corrie and Kristy, and many many others!
Laura (from Walton, west of Eugene), Heidi, Toni, Robin, Linda, Sharon, Ian, Ilene, ...did I forget anyone? oh and Linda's significant other, from the Reno area were there as well. We all went out to dinner on Friday night. Taken from Becky's blog - for more, see here.

BLACK SHEEP GATHERING: Mim Bullard

I'm having a difficult time finding words to start this post. So much has happened in three short days. I met many wonderful people and made some new friends. So many beautiful sheep and wonderful people (great meeting you Michelle!) were gathered in such a small space I found it impossible to meet them all in one weekend.
I'll start with the sheep: Romeldale, Blue Face Leicester, Churros, Jacobs, Gotlands, Lincolns, Wensleydales, and Shetlands. (Pictures of these sheep are on Mim's blog.) Argentina needed a traveling and quarantine friend so this little brown katmoget ewe with a soft silky fleece, came with. I've been thinking of naming the katmoget ewe Miryha after an awesome young lady (www.blarney.com) running a booth with Lori Lawson, Capistrano Fiber Arts Etsy Store, with the most beautiful dyed fiber and yarn. I could not get enough of their booth. I'd look and look at the other vendors around BSG then continue to come back to their booth to buy more roving.

At the end of the weekend I had six braids of roving from "Capistrano Fiber".

It was a wonderful trip. I only regret that I didn't find Kathy, Tina and Garrett before they left. Maybe next time because I plan on doing this again! Taken from Mim's blog - see more here.

BLACK SHEEP GATHERING: Sharon Campbell

We drove into Eugene and the Lane County Fairgrounds on Friday. It's been six years since Ian and I were here last and we were astonished at how much bigger the event has become, to the point that vendors are in Easy-Ups outside the main venue.
I can tell you that one of the thrills of this event is old friends. Caught here - Mike, Linda and Marianne. Linda is our friend who stepped away from her corporate life, sold her house and moved to Washington to be with her love - a guy that Ian and I both like a lot. Marianne is our guild friend from Burney in the mountains, who is working with the lady who bought Russell Groff's inventory and is one of the booths. I bought a brass sley hook embossed with Robin and Russ, because I've always worried that I'd lose the only one I have.
Okay - this is my favorite picture of all. I was shooting the picture when they said, let's get a stranger to shoot it so you can be in it. A woman overheard, and became our stranger camera angel. It's me, Becky, Laura, Michelle and Mim, pronounced Meem, long story. I don't know what to say, because our blogger roots are much deeper than this picture. Only Michelle had the presence of mind to wear her own work. Taken from Sharon's blog - more can be seen here.

A Note from your Newsletter Editor: As you can see, I seem to running out of ideas and steam after a considerable tenure in this position. Ask yourselves if this position might be the perfect place for you to contribute to one of the guild's many roles, all staffed by us as volunteers. If you're unfamiliar with blogging, training is available, and since I'm already doing it, you know it's not too complicated. Please mull this over. I will ask again.

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Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Wheel and Loom for Sale: Single treadle Ashford Traditional with Jumbo flyer, $250. Eight-harness Gilmore floor loom with extras, like premeasured warps and plenty of shuttles, $450. Contact Gina Caudillo ginamonster@yahoo.com

Loom for Sale: Herald, 60" Jack floor loom, in excellent condition, with all supplies and at least 200 pounds of yarns, mostly rayon chenille and cotton. Back problems force me to part with this loom. Centrally located in Reno. Pictures available. Price is $600.00 for everything. Call Barbara at 775 825-7101 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 775 825-7101 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email me at lassenpines@shasta.com.

Spinning Wheel: Double-treadle Kronski Minstrel, asking $300. Contact Marilyn Clarke, peterjclarke@yahoo.com, 786-1709.

May 9th 2010 Meeting Minutes

2010-05-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 am by Heidi Ericson, as Virva Porcelli was unable to attend. Heidi distributed advanced copies of the handspun portion of the Nevada State Fair handbook. The fair handbook is also available on the Nevada State Fair website.

Only 2 more weeks until the spindle retreat! No raffle was held today due to the increased visitor traffic for Planting Day at the park.
Do you have any input regarding the scholarship fund? If so, please contact Amy or Allison.

Old Business: The guild library is now located at Heidi’s house in Reno. There is a list on the blog site of library contents. Heidi is planning on storing the books in some sort of order, and will be bringing selections from the library to meetings so members are better able to peruse the media for something to take home and look at.

Please remember the Multicultural Festival is being held next Saturday at the community college in Carson City.

New guild business cards are available! Please see Heidi for them.

Mary asked if the guild has a policy in place to assist with guild dues if a member is unable to pay. It was discussed with Doris, and decided that if you know of a person who is financially unable to pay their dues, it should be brought to Doris’ attention privately, so assistance could be provided.

Treasurer Report: Two more dues were accepted, one spindle kit was sold, $50 was made off the last raffle, and one vendor donated $6 at the last meeting resulting in a balance of $ 2231.04. We now have a total of 36 paid members. Doris gave a breakdown of guild monies for 2009 as follows:
53 members: $1300
Raffle: $ 291.50
Workshop: $ 60.00
Weaving study group: $ 40
Fiber donation proceeds: $ 544
Demo donation: $ 50
Vendor donations: $ 17
Spindle kits: $ 102
For 2010 breakdown as follows:
36 members: $ 900
Raffle: $ 171
Study group: $4
Vendor donations: $19
Spindle kits: $ 25
Workshop: $ 75
Less $519 for insurance, and $350 for the Davis Creek Retreat. (deposit refundable)

Eileen suggested we make some of the raffle money available to buy new releases for our guild library. Many of the books and videos are old, and new items may bring more interest. As always, donations of money or new books or videos to build up the library are greatly welcome. If you can think of ways to update the library please bring your ideas to a meeting.

Weaving study group meeting will be held Saturday May 15th at Toni Strassburg’s house. The address is 93898 State Hwy 70 in Chilcoot CA. Please email Toni at momllama@netzero.net for directions. Group meets from 10 am to 2 pm.

Show and Tell
Heidi: Respect the Spindle book review with a skein of yarn plied using instruction from the book.
Libby: Beautiful beaded scarf
Mary: Lovely green scarf and shawl made from Knitpicks yarn in Grasshopper.
Nancy P: Tie-dyed baby shirts, 2 harness woven sample.
Eileen: Fold-able wagon from Costco.

A demonstration of easy yarn beading was given by Libby after the meeting - Thank you Libby!
Next meeting will be June 12th at Mimi Bullard’s house in Red Rock.

Those in attendance this month were: Eileen Jacobs, Toni Strassburg, Barbara Hunt, Libby Hejny, Sharie L. Jones, Mary B., Estes Ward, Connie Vann, Nancy Pryor, Heidi Ericson, Doris Woloszyn, Sue Gottsacker.

Whorled News, May 2010

2010-05-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

The May 9th meeting is at Bartley Ranch school house and is a brown bag lunch. This is also their special Ag day event day at the park from 10:00-2:00. The meeting has been moved up to 9:00 to be concluded by the time the public starts arriving. Guild members who are able are encouraged to stay after the meeting and demonstrate.

Driving Directions: Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House.

The June 12th meeting is at Mim Bullard's Desert Peach Ranch and is also brown bag. A demonstration on how skirt fleeces will be after lunch.

Driving Directions to Rancho Haven: From Reno, drive north on Hwy 395 to the first Red Rock exit, after the Stead Blvd exit. Drive 20 miles to the Sierra Ranchos Valley, and take the first left (after Jeanette Miller’s alpaca ranch ) onto Arabian. It’s a dirt road but has a county sign. Drive up into the valley and turn left on Rancho, then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle. If you are coming in from California, the north Red Rock exit is 13 miles past the exit for Hwy 70 at Hallelujah Junction and only turns right. Continue four miles from the State line, past the volunteer fire house and turn right on Rancho, at mailbox central. There is a cell signal at the mail boxes. Mim's number is (775-969-3249). You must use 775. Drive about two miles and turn right on Rancho (straight becomes Arabian), then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle.

VIRTUAL SHOW AND TELL:

Karen Starr: Here’s a New York story and a New Mexico story that came home to Nevada.

From 1998 until 2002 I worked as an assistant director for the Southeastern New York Library Resources Council. I was there for 9/11. My boss was at Fordham University in the Bronx on that day along with the other eight 3R council executive directors. They all came home. The husband of the Poughkeepsie (NY) mayor did not. There were many cars at the Metro North train stops up the Hudson River that weren’t claimed. There were many people who didn’t make it out of the Towers. New Yorkers have an understanding of that day that truly is not shared by anyone else in the country. The news we knew wasn’t broadcast elsewhere. I held a cordless phone up to New York City television broadcast for my sibling to listen to on the West Coast and what he was hearing wasn’t being broadcast outside of New York.

One of my staff members grew up in Berlin. She was a young girl in the middle of WWII and her mother taught her how to survive in Nazi Germany. I had a finished throw I had knitted and gave it to her the next day on 9/12. I still remember sitting at the picnic table in the sunshine outside the office as she took it to her car. It had an error in it. Months later she finally spotted it when she was looking at the throw from across the living room in her home in Highland, NY. She got the message. No art project can be created that is “perfect.” All of them must have at least one error in them, somewhere.

In 2002, I moved on to a job in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just before doing so, I had an urge to teach myself how to crochet. I had picked up knitting after a 30 year hiatus and found Amazing Threads in Lake Katrine, NY, which is featured in the book “Knitter’s Stash; Favorite Patterns from America’s Yarn Shops.” The store (http://www.amazingthreads.com/pages/intro.html) became a habit and to this day I can still contact staff and have yarn shipped if I need to do so. At this point I can’t remember the project that gave me some left over yarn. I had some and started crocheting. I ran out of the Plymouth yarn and bought more because I couldn’t put the project down for some reason.

The colors in the afghan represent fall colors in New York. There is a reason why there is a school of Hudson River painters. One Saturday I hiked up a “hill” south of Newburgh, NY, with a friend from the New York New Jersey Trail Conference whom I first met as a librarian colleague. We stopped for lunch on the top. There was a football game going on at West Point. We could see all the fall colors to the south. The trees are so dense that you can’t see the population in the Hudson Valley. The sun was shining on the Tappan Zee Bridge . Along the horizon we could see the skyscrapers of Manhattan. As we hiked down the mountain we walked into a glade where the white birch were golden in the sunlight. The floor was covered by those same golden leaves. The white bark of the trees glowed along with the golden leaves in the sunlight.

As I moved across the country to Santa Fe, my hands had a physical itch in them that meant I had to pick up the hook and the yarn and put some more rows on it, even on those nights on the road driving the moving van and then again driving my car through all the states between New York and New Mexico. In the motels I would pick up the project and crochet so the itch would go away.

My first night in New Mexico in Tucumcari as I stood in the motel parking lot talking to my youngest niece on my cell phone I listened to the wind blow and the freight trucks head down Route 66 one right after the other within minutes of each other in the dark on the horizon. That would be the same route that a Nevada colleague worked north of in the late 1950s when she had my to become job at the New Mexico State Library. I started the throw in New York and finished it in New Mexico. The afghan became a tribute to those New York fall colors and the sunsets of New Mexico. New Mexico is a state where people pull over the side of the road to watch the sun go down and I had the luxury of watching it out of a west view living room window in Santa Fe. I wish I had my camera in New York. That didn’t happen. I created the afghan instead.
When I knit I don’t keep the outcome. I give it away to people. Friends and colleagues don’t get much from me in material goods. They do receive hand knitted and crocheted products that come with a history and in yarns that don’t fit the norm of a “craft.” So, when I needed to find a home for that afghan I remembered what a kind person in my home town did for my mother when she was in her declining years. She died in 1997 at age 87. That person gave her a crocheted afghan which I still have. My mother taught me fiber arts beginning at age 5 years. She took me through 4-H competition at the county fair and state fair in Oregon in the 1960s. Her last year outside her home was spent in an assisted care unit and in a nursing home. When I go to a floral shop in that home town to buy some flowers for my parents’ grave at the local cemetery, the staff still know who my parents were, and the impact they had on that small town in southern Oregon. It is a strange experience to watch them tear up.

So…..I sent an email to one of my staff in New York whose mother was in a nursing home. I asked her if she knew of anyone in the nursing home that never had a visitor. She said yes. She visited that person when her mother fell asleep and gave the woman some conversation no one else gave her because no one came to see her. I asked my staff member if she would give the afghan to the lady. She said yes. I asked another staff member if she would bless the afghan. She said yes. So the staff member whose mother was in the home took the afghan with her one day after it had been blessed and gave it to the lady who never had a visitor. The condition was that she was not to know who crocheted it.

What I remember is that the dear lady found the Plymouth yarn to be so soft. The colors must have struck a cord for her as a New Yorker. And, that someone she didn’t know gave her something bright and soft for her bed in that room in the nursing home in Kingston, NY, that no one came to visit. What goes around comes around. Someone gave to my mother. I gave to someone else’s mother.

There is reason why Georgia O’Keefe moved from New York to New Mexico. It is all about light and color as a friend who came to visit and took in the Albuquerque Balloon Festival once said. I don’t know what happened to that afghan. Someday I may find out. If not, it is blessed and it will find a way through its life keeping someone warm and giving someone the fall colors of New York that are world renown. It is all about fiber in its many permutations and it is all about color. And it is about passing it on to someone else in life.

So, here’s to spinning, weaving, knitting and crocheting and what the fiber arts can truly mean to all of us. Thanks to all of you in the Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers for all you do.

Linda Loken: Weaving Projects
This project became a project as I was waiting for my house to sell and had the time to start working on weaving some of my stash. I had made this warp last fall (I think...can't remember) to weave a couple of scarves with some handspun silk singles. I had bought some 60/2 silk for a scarf pattern in the Interweave Handwoven Scarves book which actually calls for 30/2 silk...don't know what I was thinking, or should I say not thinking.

Wish it was 30/2 silk, but it's not. I'm pretty sure I must have been thinking that when I wound the warp too, but I don't know because I can't find the original page where I planned it all out. Now you must be starting to put together the reason why I call it a project! Here I am months later, digging around for the planning page trying to remember what the heck I had in mind and then realizing that I was going to have to sort of just figure out something with what I do know.

I knew it was 60/2 silk which is the same size as most sewing threads. I had no idea how many ends were in the warp or how long I had made the warp, but I did know that I should sley the reed at 64 ends per inch for a twill pattern. So I beamed the warp noting that it was really long, though I didn't think to measure it until after I beamed it - I know - it's a wonder I can drive a car let alone work a loom.

I looked through Marguerite Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book for a twill pattern and decided to go with a goose-eye pattern. I sleyed the 12 dent reed at 5 ends per dent except for every third dent had 6 ends. I tied on and started weaving with the handspun-hand dyed singles only to find it was stiff as a board and the change in colors in the weft weren't really looking as cool as I thought they would. So I wove enough for a little purse.
Then I decided to see how the silk looked with this really cool teal rayon thread I had in my sewing drawer. That was soft and flexible, but dang I ran out of thread before I knew it and figured I might have enough to make two bags out of that piece. The goose-eye pattern really looked cool with the rayon thread, but I found I had to be very consistent in my weaving so that I didn't beat the weft too hard or too loose. That meant I had to not advance the warp too far or wait too long to advance it.

You can see in the picture with the teal thread that it caused variations in the pattern that looked like mistakes...guess they were, except this was an experiment by now, so there are no mistakes, only unexpected outcomes and learning experiences!

So now that I was comfortable weaving with thread, I felt good about whipping out the white silk that I bought at the same time as the black and making good use of the rest of the warp. Even though it wove up at only 4.5 inches wide, I thought it would make a cool scarf. I would just weave until I ran out of warp…8 feet later! The finished product is a beautiful fine looking scarf that I can wear with my professional accounting attire, though chances are no one will guess that I wove it myself!

Sharon Campbell: Experimenting with Socks Blanks

The last Sunday in April, I drove over to Grass Valley to participate in the Foothill Fiber Guild's spring dye day. Sue Flynn has hosted and Sara Lamb has facilitated this as a guild fundraiser for about the past five years. Amy and I were supposed to go together, but she succumbed to influenza and was stuck in bed. We are also members of their guild at the urgings of Wes and Brenda Pound, for those of you who remember them from way back when.

I was ending my session and cleaning up when Lindsey Cleveland pulled sock blanks from her soak water and said here - go for it. Without fore-planning, I chose gold, turquoise and red violet from the dye solutions and applied my colors with a stencil brush.
After I got home I rinsed the blanks and when dry, unraveled them to get this entertaining colorful fiber spaghetti. I know some people knit right from the blank, but I wanted to soak and tame the yarn.
I'm sure I wouldn't have had any problem with the kinks while knitting, but I'm much happier working from center-pull balls.

I will say that all this abuse shows wear on the yarn.
My grandmother used to say, "The proof is in the pudding." Here's the pudding and I have to say that I did an awfully good job at guessing the placement of my blogs of dye. It looks like a pair of socks to me.

Linda Lindsey: Rug Weaving Project

This is a picture from a project I just finished. A friend wanted a couple of small rugs to match a Navajo rug he had, and he asked if I could do it. He bought the yarn, and paid (!) me to weave it.

I had enough warp that I rearranged it a bit and I'm using the rug yarn that was left over to do a small table runner/wall hanging. It should be finished this weekend, but not in time to bring it to the meeting. Yes, the sizes of the motif on the 2 small rugs are different, but the friend was okay with that. I can sure tell that I need more practice on doing the vertical color joins on the small wall hanging, they were a bit too rough. This is a great idea, and this time I actually had a picture of something done I could send!

Allison Judge: The Year of the Entrelac

2009 was the Year of Entrelac for me. When I first tried this technique many years ago, it certainly wasn't anything I enjoyed very much. After finishing 2 of Kathryn Alexander's designs, a hat & and tunic vest I started to come around, designing an Entrelac hat worked in the round. While sewing in ends, I looked at it as it was upside down and a felted basket and bag were the result. I've taught several mini-workshops on the technique and hopefully there are knitters out there now who enjoy it as much as I do. One thing I really enjoyed in the process was getting the "knitting and purling back-backwards" thing down so I don't have to be constantly turning the work!

Pictures are of Kathryn's hat and mine, modeled by my daughter.

Mim Bullard: Lamb 101

To make these lambs I used two Shetland Sheep. My technique was to put my ewe's in with the ram about the first of November. Since this takes five months to finish, I choose November 1st in order to get early spring lambs. I was very happy with the results but wish one were a ewe lamb. Bella had two ram lambs born Easter Sunday morning. If I would change things I think next time I would like to use a spotted ram to get more color in the lambs.

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Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Wheel and Loom for Sale: Single treadle Ashford Traditional with Jumbo flyer, $250. Eight-harness Gilmore floor loom with extras, like premeasured warps and plenty of shuttles, $450. Contact Gina Caudillo ginamonster@yahoo.com

Loom for Sale: Herald, 60" Jack floor loom, in excellent condition, with all supplies and at least 200 pounds of yarns, mostly rayon chenille and cotton. Back problems force me to part with this loom. Centrally located in Reno. Pictures available. Price is $600.00 for everything. Call Barbara at 775 825-7101 or email me at lassenpines@shasta.com.

Spinning Wheel: Double-treadle Kronski Minstrel, asking $300. Contact Marilyn Clarke, peterjclarke@yahoo.com, 786-1709.

April 10th Meeting Minutes

2010-04-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Meeting was called to order at 11:00 am. Introductions were made. Minutes from last month were then approved.

Treasurer Report: To date three more dues were paid and two spindle kits were sold. The workshop attendance was 12 people for Saturday, and 13 for Sunday at $35.00/day, earning a total of $875 and $800 of that was paid to Stephanie, with a profit to the guild of $75. Discussion was made as to applying the profit to something specific, perhaps the scholarship fund. Currently we have $2120.04 in our account.

Weaving Study Group did not meet in March. Weaving Study Group April meeting TBA.

Learning Tree: Mim has asked Libby if she would be willing to show the guild her way of adding beads to knitting. It was decided that would be done after the May meeting. Learning tree for June will be skirting fleeces at Mim’s house. Please let Virva know if you have anything in particular you want to see presented during the learning tree. She has a list on the table during the meetings for ideas.

No Fair report at this time.

Reminder! May 8th is Planting Day at Bartley Ranch Park. Guild meeting starts at 9:00 am. Lunch is brown bag. Visitors will be at the park between 10:00 to 2:00 pm. Please plan on doing something as a demo. Moving outside of the school house was mentioned if the weather permits. There will be a docent in the school house during the day explaining how the school house was run. Reminder to Toni to bring the guild signs to put up on the door.

Spindle Retreat: There are at least six members from our guild who plan on camping at Lake Francis with the Foothill Fiber Guild from Nevada County.

Raffle items donated this month included books, fiber for spinning, and a calligraphy kit.

Scholarship Fund: Discussion regarding a new guild scholarship fund. Heidi proposed we put the $75 profit from the last workshop towards the fund. Motion was seconded by Allison. There was also a question as to if we want to put our raffle money towards the fund too. Allison explained the process for the SOAR scholarship fund. She stated that the process for our guild needs to be refined in order to decide how to be distributed. Discussion over what funds are used towards scholarship. It was decided to table the vote until a scholarship committee could be formed in order to evaluate the process. Allison volunteered to head up the committee with help from Amy. If you have any suggestions regarding the fund and scholarship process, please email Allison at fiberist@sbcglobal.net. By June we should have more information in order to bring the discussion of the fund before the members again.

Old Business: A year ago, Annabelle Younger and her husband took in their great grandchildren. The guild decided to help them with necessities with a donation. They have since adopted the children, and Doris passed around a very well written article in the Nevada Appeal regarding the Younger family adoption. The current newsletter for Craft Emergency Relief Fund was also passed around. Connie and Marilyn shared their current brood of Izzy dolls. They are still accepting donations of yarn or polyfill. Linda Loken brought in the triangle loom. It will be stored at Doris’ house. It is easy and fun to work with, and is available to guild members. Carolyn brought in the guild table loom in case anyone wants to use it.

New Business: Sharon brought in information regarding a DVD by Judith MacKenzie McCuin on wheel maintenance. It is a two DVD set. Do we want to add the DVD to our guild library? It is roughly a $40 purchase. Amy suggested purchasing the DVD through Amazon. Mary made a motion to have the guild purchase the set. Motion was seconded, and passed by members present. Amy donated several fiber related VHS tapes to the guild library.

Heidi and Nancy Grundy will be moving the guild library Saturday April 17th. Those able to help should plan on meeting at Nancy’s house by 11 am. An email will be sent out as a reminder.

Farm City Days is being held April 22nd and 23rd at Fuji Park in Carson City. Hazel, Nancy, Virva, Toni, and Ellen Goldsmith will be attending. It is really fun, the kids ask great questions, and it is well attended.

Amy has been working on the email list, doing maintenance and eliminating old email addresses. Please check the lists, and make sure your email address is correct.

There is the yearly plant sale coming up at Rancho San Rafael June 5th at the arboretum. Trees, bulbs, herbs, tomatoes, and veggies are all available. Go early, as the good stuff sells out fast.

Sharon has info regarding the Multicultural Festival being held at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City on May 15th. If you are planning on attending, please respond to Sharon Campbell at institches@rtci.net.

Amy has a LeClerc Nilus floor loom with accessories that NEEDS A NEW HOME immediately. You must have your own transportation for the loom. Please contact Amy ASAP.

The alpaca samples for the Alpaca Western Extravaganza Show were done, and shipped. Thank you to Sharon, Virva, David, and Toni for spinning and judging the samples. Mim will facilitate next years judging again as long as she has spinners willing to do the spinning.

Linda Lindsay was contacted by the organizer of the Celtic Fair. They have asked if our guild members would again be willing to demo spinning during the fair. It is to be held October 2nd and 3rd. They will be donating $100 to our guild for our participation. Do you have problems with access to the blog site? If so, please contact Amy or Sharon.

Doris shared email info from Deep Color Studio regarding a felting open house and wool sale. It will be held at Deep Color Studio, 450 Colusa Ave. Kensington, CA on April 18th. Attendance is free.

The meeting was then halted for lunch, followed by Show and Tell , but I was so caught up in what everyone was sharing, I forgot to take notes! I’m sorry! Sharon Campbell then gave a short talk on color theory. It was very interesting, and educational, thank you Sharon!
Next month’s meeting will be held at Bartley Ranch on May 8th and will start early at 9:00 am. Don’t forget!

Those in attendance: Toni Strassburg, Eileen Jacobs, Janet Drozd, Doris Woloszyn, Nancy Grundy, Marilynn Clarke, Connie Vann, Judy Wells, Linda and Mark Lindsay, Janet Schueller, Sharie Jones, Sharon Campbell, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Mary B, Mimi Bullard, Linda Loken, Virva Porcelli, Heidi Ericson, Allison Judge, Amy Shannon, Carolyn Thompson.

March 13th Minutes

2010-04-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you Alisa for starting the minutes for me! I appreciate the help, and apologize for running late and ultimately my interruption. The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am, a motion was made by Connie to approve the January and February minutes, minutes approved.

Treasurer Report: Liability insurance of $519.00 which is the same as last year to be paid. Paid 26.46 for new checks. Dues for 4 new members, 7 paid. The raffle made $34 and the spindle $10 We have 32 paid members.

Weaving Study Group: will meet at Connie’s house on March 27th, 10 a to 4 p.

Stephanie G Workshop: $35 per day with materials cost pending. March 20 and 21. Saturday class will be color blending and Sunday will involve spinning. Classes to be held at Sky Peaks. 10 am to 4 pm.

There is no fair report or learning tree today. Please let Mim know if you are interested in anything in particular and be sure to write it down for her so she can update her info. Thank you!

Planting Day at Bartley Ranch May 8th. This will be going on in the park from 10 am to 2 pm. Discussion involved starting our meeting early or limiting our meeting to ½ hour. A motion was made by Toni to start our meeting early, and it was second by Mary. Motion approved, so the meeting will start at 9 am in order for the schoolhouse to be available to visitors without interrupting our meeting.

Nancy Grundy informed the group that the library transition to Heidi’s home was in process, and should take the next couple of months to accomplish. There is a list of books on our site, so if you are looking for something in particular, please check the library before you spend money on a new book.

Spindle retreat camping at Lake Francis: 6 people from our guild are planning on attending. Please check the yahoo list regarding cost. The retreat is being held May 22nd and 23rd.

A note from Reno Fiber Guild: At the time of the meeting there was 1 spot left for the Weavers Workshop. Cost is $117.00 plus $20 material fee. April 1st brings Laura Viada to speak at the Reno Fiber Guild meeting 6:30 at South Valleys Library.

Thank you to Connie for posting the Izzy Doll pattern. Please remember to donate your unwanted yarn or poly batting for fill the Izzy Doll project.

Update on Marilyn’s health status: Home from the hospital and is in good condition after surgery to remove an unhealed area from last surgery.

There is no raffle this meeting, but Nancy assured us more fun stuff for the next meeting.

Old Business: Connie has Fiber Friends list for handout. Connie explained the list is a reference to members regarding skills other members have that might be useful to you if you are learning something new.

Nancy explained the Weaving Study Group is for anyone to attend, you don’t need to know how to weave nor do you have to own a loom. Meetings are held at various locations, 10 am to 2 pm.

Doris brought up the potlucks. There seem to be fewer during the year, and a large portion of the members are not participating. There are only 4 meetings involving potluck meals this year.

Discussion was made regarding the noise during the meetings. A smaller circle was suggested, and Verva has a bell to get everyone to remember to be respectful during the meeting. Toni suggested holding down and tickling offenders. Please be respectful to Verva, and other members during the meeting, and hold your comments or whispers until a more appropriate time. Thank you!

Reno Fiber Guild has an exhibit at the Sparks Library through the month of March. Library located off Oddie Blvd. across from Community Center on 12th Street.

Please see Linda Loken regarding several looms for sale. Linda is relocating to Portland Oregon. It was agreed that we would miss her very much, but wish her the best in her new adventures.

Show and Tell:
Connie: hairpin lace from Grandmother.
Nancy P: Schatt wheel with old and new pieces - way to recycle Nancy!
Toni: First handspun hand knit sweater.
Mary: Tale of spinning with children in her neighborhood. Ishmael, a 3rd grader is learning spinning from Mary, and he is doing quite well. His goal is a new hat.
Melinda: Spinning lessons from Allison Judge resulted in her sharing her 1st skein! Applause followed!
Alisa: Wool felting project.
Carolyn: Adorable hat made with felted alpaca.
Sharrie: Navajo spindle from an antique store in Tahoe. Spun fiber bought from Mim, an adorable hat knitted in the round and felted. Book on hand dying yarn and fleece.

Meeting was adjourned. Those in attendance were: Elisa Ross, Connie Vann, Nancy Grundy, Nancy Pryror, Janet Schueller, Barbara Hunt, Malinda Parks, Sharrie L Jones, Estes Ward, Mary B, Carolyn Thompson, Janet Drozd, Eileen Jacobs, Doris Woloszyn, Linda Loken, Libby Hejny, David Armer, Toni Strassburg

Whorled News, March 2010

2010-03-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

The March 13th meeting will be at Sky Peaks and it is brown bag.

Driving Directions: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here. You can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side.

The April 10th meeting is at the Bartley Ranch School House. This meeting is potluck. A Learning Tree follows the meeting..

Driving Directions: Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House.

Dues are due. They are $25.00 per year. Membership runs from January to December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn at P.O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105, and make checks payable to Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

SOCKS: Many of us have found the fun of knitting socks and have even made more than one pair. This question is for sock knitters: What is your favorite sock pattern? You can answer that anyway you’d like, including the stitch repeat that you like to use for the leg and instep, or more literally, the pattern structure.

Amy Shannon: My favorite sock construction is toe-up using the instructions in “Simple Socks” by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. I prefer to use a set of 5 double pointed size 1 needles. I much prefer short-row heels and toes to heel flaps. As for stitch patterns, I like to keep trying new ones, though I am particularly fond of the simplicity of Boxcar Willie. Right now I am working on socks with a “Chevron Lace” rib pattern. How to avoid “Second Sock Syndrome”: When I knit socks I always work on both at the same time so that I don’t have to start all over again when I finish the 1st one. And as soon as I finish a pair, I go ahead and cast on for the next pair, so some are always in progress.

Virva Porcelli: Socks, Socks and more Socks???? Well, I haven't knitted socks for over 20 years. My blind sister used to provide us with her beautiful, warm knitted sock. But then Barbara came up with this brilliant idea of having a Learning tree on knitting socks on a Magic Loop at the Spinners' Retreat. Kind of intriguing, different, thinner socks. I have gotten used to knitting the heavier boot socks for winter warmth. So I took Barbara up on the challenge of knitting thin socks on one circular needle. Sounds funny, one needle, two socks at the same time..... Is this possible? Barbara assured us it was possible, works great and is easy on top of everything else.

OK, here we go.... cast of... weird!!!!! But I stuck with it, kept on knitting on and off. Tried to figure out the instructions. Unraveled. Knitted again. And it is a miracle.... a pair of socks turned out of all that mess. I can even wear them.... and they even look good.
I kind of liked it. So now I am knitting and other pair from the sock yarn blank that Mim dyed.

What I liked about this Magic Loop sock knitting.... It is a small project to take along.... you can do it in small spaces, like in a car. Once you have an idea how it is suppose to work it moves along quite fast. No wonder Barbara is stuck on socks. It might be catching.

Linda Lindsay: I think my favorite socks are the ones I'm doing now. It's just a plain sock pattern, two shades of purple on the cuff - but then I got goofy when I started the heel. So I striped it. But that wasn't enough. Next thing I knew, I'd Fair-Isled the whole foot, then knitted off the toe with alternating shades of purple. It was certainly interesting trying to figure out what I'd done when I had to knit the second one! Just finished it tonight - now let's see if they fit!

Barbara Hunt: Magic loop - toe up - two at a time. The best thing about this pattern is once finished I have two socks done at the same time. For me this is very important due to the fact I don't like doing the same thing twice. With this pattern it allows me to be as creative as I want. I can use any yarn or weight or stitch pattern. The socks fit great with padding at the bottom and back of the heal. I have a book of 356 stitch patterns and working throughout them. Having completed at least 20 pairs of socks and continue to be excited with each new pair.

Sharon Campbell: I’ve wanted to learn toe-up but get too exasperated with trying to figure out the toe cast on. I want to knit socks, not learn to knit socks. I always have a pair on needles, either for myself or for a gift. I just finished the second pair of merino socks from two-ply handspun, using the Falling Leaf pattern. I’ve become very fond of that pattern. I have Noro sock yarn in my basket now, waiting to be cast on. I’m going to use the four row, six-stitch repeat Chevron Lace pattern for these. It doesn’t make sense to deliberately knit socks with holes in them, but nevertheless, I really do like lace socks.

Chevron Lace: 1) *k2, k2 tog, k2, yo; * 2) knit; 3) *yo,k2,k2 tog, k2*; 4) knit

Musings from Sage Creek

I have been retired for six months now, and one year ago at this time, I didn’t know that I would be retired at all. There had been rumors of staff reductions, but when the early buy-out incentives were announced, I applied and was declined. Rumors flew, people were leaving right and left, so I reapplied and waited to hear. I finally was confirmed and was emailed a copy of my contract the second week of June. I signed it on June 17th on my last day of work, and just like that, my employment was severed. I had entered, or rather, was catapulted into a new stage of my life.

I wasn’t sure what I would do with all the time that had previously been filled with employment. Every work day for me had been 11 hours long, including my lunch and commute. I would have an extra 55 hours each week, and I have to admit, I wasn’t sure how living every minute of every day with Ian was going to pan out. I had done everything I could do to get us ready for living on reduced income. I felt we were ready there, but I wasn’t sure if my head was ready.
I’m reminded of how I felt when I discovered I was pregnant for the first time. It was my first marriage, and I had only been married a little over a year. Starting a family hadn’t even been discussed, and then suddenly failed birth control left me facing something I was not prepared for. I was thinking about this the other day as I took my dogs for a walk. I had no idea what being a mother would be like. My parents had been older so I grew up with older people, not young families and children. I didn’t know how to be a mother, but I can tell you that I have loved being a mother, even if I was a little unorthodox. My children have provided the greatest highs and lows in my life and I’m so glad to have taken that route.

Retirement has also been satisfying. We’ve returned to cooking meals from scratch and sharing the cooking. We expanded our garden last summer and are now planning two more raised beds and are pouring over the Peaceful Valley Farm Supply catalog. I thought I’d have time to read a lot, but I find I’m really too busy for that. Though I still haven’t established a routine, I am able to spend several hours a day in my weaving studio. I cannot imagine how I ever had time to work.

My husband was a Marine stationed in the Philippines. My father-in-law, a Navy captain, brought his ship into Subic Bay, so we’d get down to visit him each week and take the baby. One special week, we took his captain’s gig out into Olongapo Bay to snorkel. On the return ride to the ship, one of his sailors asked me if I’d like to drive the boat. He explained how to site using a point of reference on the horizon. I was thrilled. After some moments, the sailor asked me I thought I was steering straight, and I allowed that I thought I was. He suggested that I look at the wake for proof. Following the boat was the darndest snaking trail of churned-up water I had ever seen. Many times I’ve thought about that day. I thought my life was directed, but I was probably more chasing Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen. That queen eluded me several times, and now looking back, while I thought I knew where I was going, my life has been much closer to the snaking wake. In the end, I got to where I needed to be. Here.

CLASSIFIED ADS: Ads run six months unless otherwise requested

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Wheel and Loom for Sale: Single treadle Ashford Traditional with Jumbo flyer, $250. Eight-harness Gilmore floor loom with extras, like premeasured warps and plenty of shuttles, $450. Contact Gina Caudillo ginamonster@yahoo.com

Spinning Wheel: Double-treadle Kronski Minstrel, asking $300. Contact Marilyn Clarke, peterjclarke@yahoo.com, 786-1709.

February 13th Meeting Minutes

2010-03-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

Treasurers Report: Nineteen members paid last meeting which makes a total of 24 paid members for 2010. The white elephant sale netted $49 and the raffle $39. Vendors at January meeting donated $13 from their sales. There is currently $2283.52 in bank. Reminder our liability insurance payment is due in March.

Fair Report: Change in fair venue. The new theme is Wild West. Currently we do not know how this is going to impact our booth. Ranger Marie stopped in for a visit. She explained the May 8th Planting Day at the park. Visitors will be at the park from 10 am to 2 pm. We need to plan our meeting around the visitors. Plan on arriving early in order to assure a parking spot. Heidi will have cards available with guild information
.
Learning Tree: Drum carding and color blending today.

Weaving Study: Last meeting was at Linda Lindsay’s house. The next meeting will be held at Gary Sue’s home near the university. It is at 3475 Lodestar Lane on March 27th at 10 am.

Today’s raffle items were donated by Sharon. Connie asked again for any spare or unwanted yarn for Izzy dolls. The dolls are used as packing for medical instruments sent to Rwanda and Bosnia.

Old Business: Christmas lights for booth decoration. Do we want clear or are colored lights okay? Please look through your decorations to see if you have any to donate. Dues are due now. $25 for the year. The officers for the year 2010 were announced. Guild library is moving from Nancy’s home in Carson to Heidi’s house in Reno.

New Business: Sharon mentioned the spindle retreat to be held jointly with Foothills Fiber Guild. The selected site is Camp Francis located near the town of Dobbins located between hwy 20 and Grass Valley. Cabins are available, or bring your own accommodations. There are at least 6 members of our guild interested in attending so far. Sharon said she would find out more information regarding the cabins.

Reno Fiber Guild is offering a color workshop. Currently there is only 2 spaces left. The cost is $177 and $20 for materials. Dates are April 2,3 at South Valleys Library. The Gees Bend historic Southern Quilt Display is at Nevada Historical Society.

Show and Tell:
Connie: Izzy dolls to send to Rwanda and Bosnia.
Heidi: 20 oz of Blue Faced Leicester from Mim, and something about merino in a washing machine. I couldn't hear over the noise. I'm sorry Heidi!
Sharon: Woven dishcloths and baby blanket.
Amy: Michelin man mitts, Seth Golding hand carved spindle.
Libby: Beaded lace scarf in wool/bamboo.
Greg and Linda: Handmade weaving shuttles.
Gary Sue: Toe up socks.
Virva: Retreat magic loop socks.
Toni: Chicken eggs.
Kristen: Possum/merino socks

Before we adjourned, the days for Stephanie’s workshop was decided. The color part of the workshop will be held Saturday, and the spinning will be on Sunday.

Attendance: Deanna Ross, Kristen Christiansen, Elisa Ross, Doris Woloszyn, Connie Vann, Marilyn Clark, Malinda Parks, Sharon Campbell, Joyce Taylor (guest), Judy Sneed (guest), Shirley Baran (guest), Hal Baran (guest), Amy Shannon, Linda Loken, Sarah Rosenbloom (guest), Nancy Pryor, Libby Hejny, Barbara Hunt, Janet Schueller, Virva Porcelli, Mary B, Mimi Bullard, David Armer, Toni Pearce.

I found it difficult to hear during the meeting. There was a lot of chatting going on, and that building kind of echos due to the high ceiling. Next meeting I will be addressing the noise issue out of respect to Virva. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks so much, Toni

Meeting Locations for 2010

2010-02-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

January 9th: Sky Peaks - Potluck
February 13th: Bartley Ranch - Potluck
March 13th: Sky Peaks - Brown Bag
April 10th: Bartley Ranch - Potluck
May 9th: Bartley Ranch - Brown Bag
June 12th: Mim’s Desert Peach Ranch - Brown Bag
July 10th: Nicole Kelly’s – Mohawk California - Brown Bag
August 14th: Hazel Ryland’s - Brown Bag
September 10th: Davis Creek State Park – Spinsters Retreat - Potluck
October 9th: Bartley Ranch - Potluck
November 13th: Sky Peaks - Brown Bag
December 11th: Bartley Ranch - Potluck

January 9th Minutes

2010-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Introductions were followed by Committee Reports

Treasurer's Report: Do we want to keep Davis Creek Park as our meeting place for our September retreat? Due to the increase in cost, it was suggested that we might want to look into alternatives for holding our annual retreat at other places. Most all agreed that we enjoyed Davis Creek park, and that other areas would be just as expensive. We agreed to pay for the reservation. Dues are due now, $25 per member. There was no Fair report.

Learning Tree: Mim suggested we bring our fiber prep tools for the February meeting, along with any fiber you want processed, so we could go over fiber prep and color blending.
Weave Study Group: No meeting until the 3rd Saturday, and the meeting would be held at Linda Lindsay's house in Stagecoach.

Old Business:
The Stephanie Gaustad workshop will be held at Sky Peaks on March 20, 21. Cost to be determined.

New Business: Nancy and Allison suggested we start a scholarship fund, this was met with agreement.

Election of Officers: We held the floor open to nominations for new officers for the year 2010. The officers are as follows: Virva Porcelli- President, Linda Loken-Vice President, Secretary-Toni Strassburg, Treasurer-Doris Woloszyn, Newsletter-Sharon Campbell, Learning Tree-Mimi Bullard, Raffle-Nancy Pryor, and Hospitality-Heidi Ericson.

Show and Tell:
Heidi: Gia shrug and news about a career change
Barb: Fancy fair isle socks
Connie: Alpaca and wool skein from her trip to New Mexico
Marilyn: Izzy dolls to send to Africa as packing for medical supplies, and a request for wool scraps for more doll making
Linda Lindsay: Slipper socks, Hubby Mark showed off his dying and blending of wool batts.
Nancy: Squares Shawls
Sharon: Fallen leaf socks
Sharie: Sweater from her first handspun yarn, felt hat from Fibertrends pattern
Mary: Cat Bordhi socks, and her new Honda
Estes: Bunny Rex (actually live and present rabbit) for angora yarn
Heidi: made an appeal for black silk for a weaving project
Sue: Kid mohair shrug that she gave away

Meeting was adjourned, with our next meeting to be held at Barley Ranch on February 13th

Whorled News, January 2010

2010-01-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

The January 9th meeting will be at Sky Peaks. This is the postponed December Christmas meeting so bring white elephant items. Items for sale will also be available by guild members. Even though this meeting is on an odd month, since it's the Christmas Party, it is potluck.

Driving Directions: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here. You can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side.

The February 13th meeting is at the Bartley Ranch School House. This meeting is also potluck. A Learning Tree follows the meeting on the subject of Fiber Preparation.

Driving Directions: Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House.

Dues are due. They are $25.00 per year. Membership runs from January to December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn at P.O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105, and make checks payable to Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.
Road to New Mexico Trip-tique, by Connie Vann

Recently, my husband and I took a road trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico, hoping to take 21 days in-full. This is a view of the trip with a “fiber-related slant.”

First stop was Ely, Nevada – Motel 6. This motel accepts dogs, and we fully intended to take our dog, Frankie-Sue. Who is to say that “the loneliest highway” is not the best highway. Who needs all that freeway traffic anyway?!? We headed into Utah and drove through beautiful Cedar Breaks, just outside of Cedar City. Red rocks started to appear, and the stratified canyons were fringed with tall pine and white birch trees. On the way south, we stopped in Glendale, Utah, where I spied Apple Valley Artists’ Coop on the side of the road. The place contained many quilted, knitted, crocheted and woven items. They had some knee-length womens vests with a quilted yoke over a handwoven bodice. Behind the Coop were two healthy-looking Vicunas, enjoying the afternoon breezes. Yes, Vicunas!

Once over the Arizona border, we stopped for the night in Page, Arizona. Page is a town located next to Lake Powell, which runs through a gorgeous red rock canyon that has many fingers. We stopped in Cameron, Arizona and looked through the most extensive and high-quality Indian Art collection I had seen thus far. There were Lakota Sioux wedding baskets made of willow, Hopi utility baskets made of willow and yucca, Navajo rugs and blankets – some vintage and spotless. The jewelry, beadwork, and pottery were exquisite. Contrast this with the female stray dog who tried to climb into our car with us.

Before stopping for dinner in Flagstaff the next evening, we toured the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It truly exceeded my expectations, though the postcards do represent it well. It is so vast, and so deep. Next morning, we hiked .9 mile downward got right next to cliff dwellings notched into secluded Walnut Canyon that the Sinagua Indians lived in around 1100. Of course, we had to hike .9 mile all the way back up to the top. Phew! Marked along the trail were all the plants they used. They spun banana yucca into cloth on hand-carved drop spindles and looms made from white oak and mountain Manzanita.

We pushed hard on the freeway and made it to Albuquerque the next night, again sleeping next to the freeway. But, we stuffed ourselves with Mexican food and slept as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next day, we dawdled in Albuquerque, visiting a music store, and getting lost at the Museum of Natural Science. The Museum was designed for “children of all ages,” and contained many interactive exhibits, which we “adults” couldn’t tear ourselves away from. Ha! Finally, at 2:30 pm, we headed for our final destination – Ruidoso, once again exiting the monotonous freeway.

While staying in Ruidoso, I found The Royal Fiber Spinnery, a mill for processing alpaca, owned by Rod & Marilyn Dakan, on 815 Gavilon Canyon RD. The owners were happy to give us a tour, and allowed us to take pictures. They retail skeins of 2-ply alpaca in varying weights, and supply 140+ yarn shops. Rod and his sister own a flock of 70 alpaca, which supply the mill with much of the fiber they use. However, they do process for private spinners and growers. In the back, Rod showed me the washing machine first, and explained how extremely dirt-filled alpaca fiber can get. They wash at least 3 times, and more, if necessary. The machine uses hot water, detergent, and spinning only (no agitation). Next, the fiber goes into a drying room, and stays there until the moisture content reaches 30%.

They had two carding machines, and Rod is able to set the grade on each one. After the fiber is carded, it emerges from the machine in a narrow batt. The next machine combines two such batts and makes them one. Then, three batts are combined into one. The reason for this is to control the “thick and thin” problem, and is the best method for achieving an even batt. The batts are taken to the spinning machine, where calibration is set for the desired weight and twist-per-inch. Several cones of singles are spun at once. The plying machine makes the end product, which is then skeined into two-yard skeins.

Marilyn Dakan was hand-painting two of these large skeins on a metal table, using acid dyes, and a turkey baster. She seemed to know exactly how much dye to put where, and patted it down until the dye had saturated the yarns. One dozen skeins were then cooked in a large cookpot at 220 degrees until the dye was set, and the skeins were hung on a rack to air-dry. Once dry, Rod wound one-yard skeins on a hand-winder contraption, and this made the color variegation seem “mixed” to the eye.

Finally, a logo paper band was affixed around the skeins, so they could be hung on hooks for selling. Naturally, I bought four skeins of DK weight, because I “have the disease.” Their phone is 575-258-YARN, or Cell 575-937-1530.

Ruidoso is a mountain ski village. Sort of like Lake Tahoe without the lake. We drove 12 miles up the steepest, windiest road EVER to the Apache Ski Resort, owned by the Mescalero Apache Indians. As I am writing this, there are two cats trying to stalk a double herd of elk and white-tailed deer just outside our door. The elk and deer are calmly grazing, as if the brazen little cats are nothing but regular sport.

In about five days, we will start the return trip, doubling back through Tucson, Arizona. So, I will close this installment, and see you all at the Christmas Party.

Transferring Singles, by Heidi Erickson

To answer Amy’s question of why do I transfer my singles before I ply. I transfer my singles onto other bobbins before I ply for several reasons.

First I have the luxury of having another wheel that is great for plying, my Majacraft Rose. It is all set up for both winding into Majacraft bobbins which are larger than most, 6oz easy and I have the larger plying head and flyer, about 8 oz plus. That way I can make longer skeins of yarn without knots.

Second, Stephanie G recommends that you put as much distance between your bobbins and the plying wheel as possible when plying. The reason for doing this is to let the twist equal it’s self in the single out over the distance. I take this one step further and do this when I transfer my singles. I put the spinning singles at one of the room and my bobbin winding at the other in so that’s there’s a distance of 6 to 8 feet in between.

Also when I transfer the singles from the spinning bobbins to the plying bobbins I am able to smooth out the take up. On a wheel that has hooks the take up can be bumpy because the single winds on in the area directly under the hook first. You will always end up with more yarn there then in the spaces between the hooks.

Musings from Sage Creek by Sharon Campbell

Four years ago I was barely aware of blogs, just that Sara Lamb, a nationally known fiber artist, had one, and I knew this because I had been reading it. I attended a Nevada Library Association conference session in the fall of 2005 called “Blickis, Wikis and Blogs.” I still don’t know what a blicki is, but I have a link to Wikipedia on my home page and have been a blogger myself since the spring of 2006.

A blog is simply short for web log and is a form of an online diary. The speaker named several platforms that were free, and I chose Blogger, a Google product. If you see a URL with blogspot.com at the end, it’s a Blogger blog. He also recommended that when you create one, you decide what your focus will be and how often you will post. Blogs become a form of networking, and other bloggers will get a sense of how often to check in on you to see if you’ve posted. I thought a lot about the kind of bloggers I wanted to meet and share information with, and I finally decided that my theme would be “the chronicles of a book-loving fiber junkie.”
My first post was simply a photo of six hats that I knitted from handspun yarns. I couldn’t figure out how to add words, but Amy took mercy on me and spent several hours, helping me understand how to navigate my site and make changes in my template. In the beginning you needed to know some html to manage your page. That is no longer the case. Blogger has tricked up their templates since I started, becoming a matter of point and in click in most cases. I find that inserting photos and text requires some manipulation, as hyphenation still is done manually. New apps have appeared as well and one can easily get sucked into overloading the page with information, obfuscating the reason one began blogging in the first place.

I have added some third-party apps like The Library Thing - a catalog of books I’ve read and enjoyed, and a widget from NeoWork that counts the countries of people who stop by my blog. That probably amuses me most of my widgets. (A widget is a place holder; it holds the data, for the application that I want to add.) As of this date, people from 44 countries have paid me a visit, the last country being Serbia. I don’t know about you, but what the heck in the world?? If anything exemplifies globalization, that has to be it! I look at the scrolling list of counties and wonder at the string of events that caused them to visit me.

Now that I’ve explained that a blog is, let me tell you about what it does for me. I’ve struggled to become a better weaver but weaving isn’t very portable. I have essentially been limited to learning from books. However, as I’ve met more and more weaving bloggers, I have had an opportunity to see their projects, understand their process and learn some tricks. Last year when I struggled to learn a new technique, a weaver in Ashland, Oregon mailed me an instructional DVD to use until I got the hang of it.

Just last month I decided I wanted to weave a rag rug. I read six articles on how to prepare the warp (the threads that go from top to bottom) but I could find nothing on how to prepare the weft, i.e., the rags. A studio weaver in New York read my blog and came to my rescue, emailing me her phone number and told me to call her. Actually, since she has free long distance, she called me, and in spite of needing to get ready for a family dinner, spent a half hour on the phone with me, answering all my questions and telling me answers to questions I didn’t know I had.

Blogs have become invaluable to me, especially with the isolation in Red Rock Valley. In addition to hobbyists, equestrians, shepherds, and cooks, many are political in nature. You may be reading a blog and not even realize it. You may have a blog in you, just waiting in the wings for the right moment. It’s a new year, you know.

Guild Question: This is the time of year when we take stock and begin to think of New Year’s Resolutions, things that we’d like to challenge ourselves with in the next year. Instead, I’d like you to think back over this past year. What was the thing you made in 2009 that you were most satisfied with? It doesn’t have to be something that you think was the coolest or the best thing you ever did – maybe the challenge that took you out of our comfort zone and stretched you.

Sharie Jones: I have to say being a new member of the guild in September,I have a few items that I'm sure I'll always remember. The first was joining the guild and meeting all the great Fiber Artist I've met so far, next was finding my spinning wheel and learning how to spin my own fibers, and yet another was learning how to knit. My knitting isn't that great yet but I'm sure with some more practice it will come along. With all these fun things that I've learned in the past few months I do have something special I've made that all of you have seen pieces of at the past few meetings I've been able to attend. And that's my very first hand spun knitted sweater spun from Merino and Corridale Wool. I'ts not exactly perfect but it was a challenge and there are a few things I would have done differently but I will cherish this sweater forever and ever only because it was my first. Who knows maybe It will be handed down from generation to generation untill it falls apart.

Becky Pennington: I'd have to say the scarf, the white one made from 3 ply lace weight merino that I entered in the fair. I actually think it might be the nicest scarf I've made, it is even in width, very nice length and the yarn was probably my best too!

Mary B.: I don’t like to sew knitted pieces together. I prefer to make sweaters in the top down manner. Since I don’t have an average body, and not anyone I can really easily get to work with me to see if the top down garment top has reached the proper size to start the body, the sweaters I usually knit for myself turn out much too large.

This year I lost most of the sweaters I had knit to the dreaded moth invasion we all fight. This year, the moths won. Now I am winning so I am knitting more sweaters. I decided to use my favorite fitting thermal top to use a measuring model. It worked! I measured what would be the diagonal, and the body circumference as well as the upper sleeve circumference. These I considered the key measurements for me.

I knit this sweater out of what would compare with Brown Sheep Lamb’s price (not bulky) without the mohair. It is very close to what I want, but still about three inches more than I want in the body. Very much better than the ones I had to full/felt in order to get them small enough to wear.

Yesterday I began my next swatch. I learned from Medrith Glover of the Wool Room in Quincy that to be accurate in gauge, I needed to knit a LARGER swatch than I was typically making and to measure several places on the swatch. My swatches are now about 6 long x12 inches wide. My gauge is now much more accurate.

I can’t wait to see how this one will turn out, and I have three more in line for knitting. With my luck I will find a job you know where, that will not be cold enough to wear all these sweaters most of the year.

Sharon: I was taken by the gauntlets that Nancy Pryor brought for a show-and-tell last summer. With nothing more than a mental picture, I bought a skein of Noro sock yarn and began knitting, inserting bobbles and colors from stash sock yarn. I had a blast and my daughter was thrilled to receive them. This was the first time I had knitted fingers, even though they were short fingers. The second one wasn't nearly as fun as the first.

Online Resources:

Weavolution: This site started June 2009, as a gathering place for handweavers. It is the online international handweaving community where you can connect with others who share your passion for the craft. It’s free, it’s fun and it’s available 24/7.

We are sending out a monthly mailing list, with special offers and up dates on our new products. We would like to invite you to visit our site and take a look around. If you like what you see, please sign up for our mailing list by responding to this email or entering your email address at the bottom right-hand corner of our home page.

Spindlicity: Spindlicity was relaunched October 1st as a new and improved online magazine for handspinners – patterns, reviews, books and more. They have an in depth array of articles on a particular fiber, and lots of articles by both new and familiar faces around the Spindlicity water cooler. Most exciting is the new Spindlicity staff - two new members of the Spindlicity staff who each bring a world of expertise and enthusiasm.

Knotions Magazine: Knit Smarter. In addition to patterns, you can find reviews of books as well as knitting needles and techniques. Heidi says - Knotions first issue has two interesting articles, Discovering the fit and Fashion of Knitted Pants and Color Trends for Fall ’08 both of which I found interesting. Along with twelve patterns it is a very clean site and easy to use and read. There are also techniques and reviews. All in all a good new resource for us all.

Twist Collective: Heidi says Twisted Collective first issue the first thing you will notice is the format is different that most sites. It works more like a regular magazine, with arrows on each side. One can page through the e-zine

Weavezine: -Learn how to weave. Whether you've been weaving for thirty years or thirty minutes, we're here to help you learn more about this exciting craft. This site is unique for it's recorded interviews with seasoned weavers. A memorium appears in this issue to Russel Groff, of the Robin and Russ store in Oregon, who just died January 3rd.

CLASSIFIED ADS: Ads run six months unless otherwise requested

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Wheel and Loom for Sale: Single treadle Ashford Traditional with Jumbo flyer, $250. Eight-harness Gilmore floor loom with extras, like premeasured warps and plenty of shuttles, $450. Contact Gina Caudillo ginamonster@yahoo.com

November 11th Minutes

2009-12-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

Meeting Called to Order: Mary B., co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. Introductions were made. Eighteen people were in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have four new members and one member renewed as of 11/13/09. One spindle kit was sold. A check for $50.00 was received from the Celtic Event organizers. Nancy Pryor gave $6.00 from the Weaving Study Group. The magazines for donations from last meeting raised $19.00. She sent $400.00 to Heifer International and $300.00 to the Nevada State Fair. Currently we have 53 paid members. Current balance is $2,002.02.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers. Dues are $25.00 a year.

Committee Reports

Spinning Workshop – Nancy Pryor
Date for Stephenie Gaustad spinning workshop is March 20, 2010. Location will be announced. Give Nancy any suggestions about what you want to learn.

Learning Tree- Mim
No Learning Tree in December due to Christmas party. January will be a carding workshop. Bring what carding equipment you have. Mim will teach this Learning Tree.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
The next meeting will be in January at Linda Lindsay’s home. More details to follow.

Old Business

December Meeting
Meeting is December 12, 2009 at Bartley Ranch School House. Bring white elephant items. There will also be some items for sale by some individuals. There is an ornament exchange for anyone who is interested.

Meeting Locations for 2010
Sky Peaks – 1/9, 3/13, 11/13
Bartley Ranch School House – 2/13, 4/10, 5/9, 10/9, 12/11
Mim’s house – 6/12
Nicole Kelly’s house – 7/10
Hazel Ryland’s home – 8/14
Davis Creek State Park – 9/10 through 9/12

Amy motioned for Doris to pay $100 deposit if requested by Davis Creek State Park. Mim seconded. Motioned passed.

New Business

Sky Peaks Craft Fair - Virva
Sky Peaks is holding a craft fair in November on either the 17th or 24th. People who might be interested in selling something should contact Lisa at Sky Peaks 775-747-9555. Items should be reasonably priced.

Lights for State Fair Booth – Mary B.
She suggested that we consider buying 10 strands of small white Christmas lights to use on our booth at the State Fair. They usually go on sale this time of year. She has provided lights in the past and may not be able to do that this coming year.

Alpaca Fair – Toni
A fair with alpaca items and a craft fair will be held on December 6th from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Jeanette Miller’s (Sierra Nevada Alpacas)

Interweave Press Discount – Amy
Amy has our group discount code available. Contact her for the number to use when ordering publications from Interweave Press.

Show ‘n Tell

Mary B. – maroon cable knit sweater & new lavender yarn.
Amy – cowl knit from alpaca hand spun & dyed. Pattern was Ridged Lace Cowl
Olivia – hand knit cowl
Mim – buttons she felted by putting wool over metal button
Nancy Pryor- notebook with sweater patterns
Marilynn – woven rug dyed with henna that her sister purchased in Morocco
Heidi – went to SOAR Oct. 24-31 in Sun River, OR. She had lots of fun and gained lots of knowledge.
Janet – used Marilynn’s method of frozen flower petals and dyed scarves with hollyhock flowers
Eileen – knit “socks” for sun glasses
Barbara – scarf knit with inter lock made from Noro yarn

The meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by,

Judy Wells.

Whorled News, November 2009

2009-11-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

The November 14th guild meeting will be 11:00 at Sky Peak Ranch: Sky Peaks in Northwest Reno. A map is available here. You can you can access it from 4th street a little west of Truckee River Nursery or from a road you can enter on McCarran going south turning to the right like you wanted to reach Home Depot. At that stop sign, turn right, keep going for awhile through a light and go another few blocks and Sky Peaks is on the left. The community room is on the back or NW side. This meeting is brown bag. Come early and visit.

The December 12th guild meeting will be at the Bartley Ranch Schoolhouse. Driving Directions: Bartley Ranch:. Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House.

This our Christmas meeting and will be potluck. Bring something for the White Elephant Sale, all proceeds to benefit the guild. Also, expect to shop from the variety of fibers that members bring for sale.

Sock Summit 2009, Portland Oregon - Toni Pearce

While I didn't get a chance to actually attend Sock Summit to the extent that I was able to take classes (kinda expensive!), I was able to plan a visit to my sister around it, and was totally overwhelmed by the experience. This was the first ever Summit, their motto "Taking sock knitting almost too far" was an apt one too.

The first day, Thursday was entirely dedicated to classes, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were open to non class attendees. We went early on Friday (the Max train in Portland dropped us off right at the front door of the convention center!) to check out the vendor booths, and my good friend, David, found a spot in an all day beginners sock knitting class. Friday was the day for setting the new Guinness World Record for the most people knitting on 2 needles at the same time - which was accomplished, beating the old record by several hundred knitters! And the vendors! Did I mention vendors? There were row upon row of booths dedicated to nothing but yarn, fiber, and knitting. It was overwhelming!

Some vendors were familiar names, Carolina Homespun, Woodland Woolworks, South West Trading Co., but many were talented new fiber artists with yarn, fiber, bags, and needles the likes of which I have never seen. There was also a sock museum, and free seminars held during each day. We also had a chance to attend a huge book signing. Luminaries such as Barbara Walker, Cookie A, Stephanie Pearl McPhee, Cat Bordhi, they were all there to sign copies of their books! It was so awesome to see so many knitting legends in one place. I did get a couple of my books signed, but wished I could have brought more from home if I had the room in the car.

I don't believe I have ever seen so many yarn-aholics in one building. It seemed to me that attendance was really great. Perhaps a sign the economy is starting to change a bit? During the evening, they had a sock hop, and the wonderful people from Ravelry hosted a couple of meet ups in the downtown area while the Summit was going on. No one knows if there will be another Summit, as apparently it was more of an undertaking to put together than the founders had initially thought, but knowing what I do now, if it were to happen again in Portland, I would be there without a doubt!

Haiku, Fiber Style

We’re fiberholics
I don’t think it’s a problem
Do husbands agree??

-Janet Drozd

Sharp felting needle
In and out, shaping the wool
Pass me the band-aids

Too much, you make mud
Too little, and it's pastels
Just right, a rainbow

Humming spinning wheel
and gently snoring felines
they make me sleepy

-Amy Shannon

Knitting along and
oh my goodness, I dropped one.
when did I do that?

-Jen Overby

I find the hard part
Is my anticipating
Muse Inspiration

-Allison Judge

Black like the night
laced with silver starlight
twinkles the soft alpaca
thru my fingers spinning

-Annabelle Younger

Musings from Sage Creek - Sharon Campbell

At this time of year I think of Pete Seeger’s song, sung by the Byrds: “To everything there is a season; turn, turn, turn.” The fountain is covered and the rocking chairs from the front porch are stashed away where they will remain until Spring. The woodstove has been put back to work and it’s time to turn back our clocks. Turn, turn, turn.

Retirement is another turn of season. Rumors of early buyouts and incentives had been leaked and batted around for six months. Then suddenly, in April I learned that my bid for early retirement had been accepted. I saw my contract just days before I signed it and then following a flurry of last minute activity, my life as a working stiff came to a close. By the end of June, I was a free woman. After a lifetime of scheduling my life around my job, I was finally free to start scheduling my life around me, but my head was swimming from the suddenness of it all.

People said, oh – you are going to love retirement and wonder how you ever had time to work. That just doesn’t make any sense, but I kept hearing it, and now I find myself saying it too. I can’t imagine stuffing a 40-hour work week into my life at this point, and I wonder how I did it before. While I was working I found time to do the things that I really enjoy, so it seemed logical that more time for me meant more time for my hobbies, but that hasn’t been the case. I thought I’d feel like I have all the time in the world. I don’t. But I also don’t have to hurry through everything. It’s more like I have time to walk the dogs every day, time to have lunch with friends, and of course, out here we always have to add drive time onto engagements. It also means time to catch grandkids soccer and football games - so often they played while I was working. It means having time to spend with people, to stop and chat with neighbors and not worry that there’s still more laundry to do, to babysit or visit a classroom, to greet a plane so someone else doesn’t have to take time off work, to watch a late baseball game on a week night, to travel without struggling to coordinate leave times between my job and Ian’s.

I admit to wondering how I would fill my days after the 11 hours of a work day were subtracted. I needn’t have worried. My time is filled and I am busy all day long. I think the real change is that I chose what I’m busy with it. “And a time for every purpose, under heaven, turn, turn, turn.”

CLASSIFIED ADS: Ads run six months unless otherwise requested

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Wheel and Loom for Sale: Single treadle Ashford Traditional with Jumbo flyer, $250. Eight-harness Gilmore floor loom with extras, like premeasured warps and plenty of shuttles, $450. Contact Gina Caudillo ginamonster@yahoo.com

October 10th Meeting Minutes

2009-10-27T14:31:00.001-07:00

Meeting Called to Order: Toni, co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. Introductions were made. Twenty-four people were in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have one new member through 10/09/09. We received $30.00 for Keep the Fleece. All total we raised $200.00 for Keep the Fleece. The guild voted to match the $200.00 and thus send a total of $400.00 to Heifer International. In September, we raised $109.50 from donation of items sold at the retreat. Current balance is $2,082.02.

Doris mentioned in the past we have paid fiber judges at the state fair. This year we had volunteer judges. She suggested we donate some money to the fair, since the fair provided us with the tent, fence and PA system. Jen motioned we donate $300.00 to the fair. Amy seconded. Motion passed.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Newsletter – Toni
Sharon is not present today. For the upcoming newsletter we had discussed writing haiku poems. Please send your haiku poem to Sharon.

Minutes – Toni
The minutes were discussed and okayed.

Committee Reports

Old Business

Learning Tree – Mim
September was knitting Magic Loop Socks presented by Barbara. November will be modular knitting with Nancy Pryor.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
Gretchen is doing an art piece where she is going to be weaving in rusted steel wire into the piece. Next meeting will be January 23rd at Linda Lindsay’s home. Cost is $20.00

Meeting Locations
January - Sky Peak, February & March – South Valley Library, April, June, August, October & December –Bartley Ranch, May-Doris Woloszyn, July- Mim Bullard, November- Hazel Ryland

Donated Items – Janet and Connie
No tickets available this month. Amy said there are books and magazines that are available to purchase with all funds going to the guild.

Old Business

Celtic Fair – Linda Lindsay
October 3rd and 4th was the Celtic Fair held at Bartley Ranch. Some of our guild members were on hand from 9 a.m. to 5 p.pm to demonstrate spinning during this event. Our guild had been asked to participate from event organizers. To show their gratitude they wrote a check to our guild for $50.00.

Alpaca Open House – Toni
This event was held at Dave and Janette Miller’s place. There were several vendors present, including some members of our guild. The event was well attended.

Alpaca Fiber Spinning and Judging for AOBA - Mim
The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) is looking for people to judge samples of fibers sent in and then spin these fibers. Individuals get paid $5.00 for each sample. You learn a lot about fibers during this process. The show is in April. Let Mim know if you would like to judge the alpaca spinners choice.

New Business

Spinning Workshop with Stephenie Gaustad – Nancy Pryor
Nancy has e-mailed Stephenie about presenting a spring spinning workshop in 2010. At this time she had not heard back from her.

Meeting Locations for 2010 – Toni and Doris
We need to firm up 2010 locations. Doris will reserve Davis Creek for September. Doris mentioned that Davis Creek State Park may require a $100 cleaning fee. It was decided that if the $100 is just a deposit, Doris should go ahead and reserve the site. If it is an actual $100 charge, then the guild will need to discuss this further. Toni will ask Heidi to check with Bartley Ranch to see how many months it would be available for meetings. Toni will also check with Mary B. about whether Sky Peaks has been reserved for the January 2010 meeting. Additional meeting sites mentioned were the Memorial Hall at San Rafael Park or the National Guard Armory in Carson City.

Show ‘n Tell

Sharie – the sweater she has made with her first handspun corriedale and llama yarn.
Linda Loken – hand felted scarves
Jen – stuffed sheep knit by her daughter
Connie – framed beaded crochet doily made by her great-grandmother
Marilynn – shibori scarves dyed with indigo
Nancy Pryor – knit sock blanks that were dyed and also plain
Linda Lindsay – wool dyed with Wilson cake dye. This techniques is found in the Twisted Scissors Sock Book

The meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by,

Judy Wells.

August 2009 Meeting Minutes

2009-09-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2009

Meeting Called to Order: Mary B., co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. Twenty-four people were in attendance which included members and guests.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have one new member. We received $10.00 donation from Nancy Pryor for the weaving study group. We made $5.00 on a drop spindle kit. We received $20.00 for the Keep the Fleece scarf project, which brings the total we have raised for this project to $170.00 so far. Currently we have 46 paid members. Balance in our account is $2,066.34. Last year we approved that Doris can reorder checks when needed, so she will be ordering new checks. We could use 20-30 more copies of instructions for our drop spindle kits. Doris requested a $10.00 reimbursement for roving she had purchased for the kits. A motion was made and seconded. Motion passed.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Committee Reports

Old Business

State Fair – Amy
We now have a new fair CEO. Fair entries are up. As of today, no entries have been made in fleece and fiber. We don’t have a judge for fleece and fiber either. Amy told fair people to cancel this portion. Contact Amy if you have questions on this. There is no goat or sheep show this year. She asked for suggestions for a spinning and weaving judge. We have limited entries in these categories, so a local judge would be best. Nancy Grundy agreed to judge for this category. Saturday August 29th is the judging.

We have a tent near the sheep barn. Amy needs displays for the tent, plus people to bring in samples of their work. Remember to label things you bring. We could use baskets to display our items in. Gary Sue agreed to bring baskets. Items can be picked up on Sunday afternoon no sooner than 4 pm. The following people will provide these displays: Susan Gottsacker-tatting; Mim-sheep to mitten; Marilynn-natural dye boards; Linda Loken-4 harness loom that she will allow people to weave on Nancy Pyror made lots of drop spindle kits for us to sell.

Fair opens on Wednesday, August 26th at 5 p.m. Amy needs people to help set up tent and displays on Wednesday morning and help taking things down on Sunday evening. Fair hours are 5 pm-11 pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Our booth hours these days are 4 pm to 10 pm. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the fair hours are noon to midnight. with our booth being open from around 10 am-10 pm. There is no free parking. You can get in free if you bring your spinning wheel. Amy and Jen will be at the fair every evening. People are welcome to bring ice, snacks and drinks for themselves and to share with others. Virva will donate two cases of water.

We will not hold a couple contests this year. One of them is the spinning contest. The other is the name the sheep contest, since there will be no sheep in the pen this year.

Amy will print some new guild brochures with the new blog address. Jen will contact Heidi to update our business card with the new blog address and new web address.\

Amy needs volunteers to write up who wins ribbons and information for the newsletter. In the past Amy has copied the judging forms to get the information.

Amy will locate tubs with fair materials. Judy mentioned that Annabelle was to have taken them from Toni.

Learning Tree – Mim
Mim brought set up to teach felting today. Barbara will be teaching Magic Loop, two at a time, toe up and magic cast on at our September meeting. Need size one circular needles, 40” long would be great. Can get needles from Knitpicks.com. She will send Amy a list of materials to send to out on e-mail.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
There will be no August meeting. The next meeting will be in September. Location will be announced later

Meeting Locations
Jan- Sky Peak , Feb. & March – South Valley Library, April, June, August, Oct. & Dec –Bartley Ranch, May-Doris Woloszyn, July- Mim Bullard, Nov.- to be determined, but Sky Peaks has been reserved by Mary B. in case we have no other location..

New Business

Fiber Festival – Mim
Mim mentioned a Fiber Festival will be held October 6th by Jeanette Miller at her house off Red Rock Road. Our guild is welcome to set up a booth to demonstrate and sell items. Amy suggested we could keep left overs from the fair and take to this event.

Guild Library – Nancy Grundy
Nancy mentioned she has been storing the guild library at her home and would now like to give the library to another member to store. It is two bookcases full of books. If you currently have books you have checked out from the guild library, please contact Nancy Grundy. Books are only supposed to be checked out for one month at a time.

Classified Ads – Amy
She suggested that we set up a separate blog to list these items. We need to be careful how we set this up so we only get what we want listed. Items are currently listed in our newsletter. A blog would be timelier for classified ads. No decision was reached at this time.

Knitting Machine – Sharon Campbell
Sharon has a contact who is interested in buying a knitting machine. Zoleinna mentioned she has a knitting machine available to sell.

Election of new Co-President – Mary B.
Mary mentioned we will need to elect a new Co-President as she will probably be moving by the end of August. Mary was thanked for all her efforts for the guild.

Show ‘n Tell

Virva – crochet wedding cake topper done with handspun yarn
Barbara – first mittens
Kathleen – first attempt at 4 ply yarn
Sharon – ½ Polly Holmes and ½ Anna Harvey spun yarn; wooden sock stretcher
Eileen – Book 101 One Skein Wonders; knit collar and purse
Zoleinna – Jackoon (woven jacket) made from a book that is out of print called A Weaver’s Pattern Book of Loom Shaped Clothing by Gloria Vaughn Hann
Nancy Pryor – Book Modular Magic by Ginger Luters; modular knit scarf and shawl
( Amy mentioned there are still a couple books on modular knitting in print.)
Sue G. – tatted flowers and tatting books
Jen – a felted bag made out of scrap yarns

The meeting was adjourned for lunch, followed by the Learning Tree with Mim.

Whorled News, September 2009

2009-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

The 10th Annual Spinsters Retreat is right around the corner, September 11-13th, at Davis Creek Park, group camp area, in Washoe Valley. It's the time we put aside our clocks, pull out our wool and spin. Friday and Saturday are camp out nights. We have running water, pit toilets, no electricity and very little cell service.

Driving Directions: Take 395 south from Reno or north from Carson City to the turnoff to Bowers Mansion. Turn west (the only way you can turn) and shortly (quarter mile maybe) down the road you will get to Davis Creek Park. It will be on the right/West. After you pass the bathrooms, proceed through the dip and the road to the group area is on the right. We will also have a sign up. The retreat is in the RV Group Camping area at the north end of the park

Our regular meeting is 11:00 Saturday, followed by a potluck lunch and the Swap 'n Sell, which begins at 1:00. This is a great opportunity to clean out your stash of unwanted things and add new things. Do you have yarn you just don't know what to do with? Or roving for which you have lost enthusiasm? Has someone given you a brand new wheel, and you need a new home for the old one? Clean out your fiber closets and bring fiber or tools to sell or swap.

Remember to bring a comfortable chair for spinning, a rug for your wheel since otherwise it will be in dirt, sunscreen, food, food, food, and something for the White Elephant Sale. Also, this is your chance to clean out your stash and help others clean theirs out as well. Campers, plan on cold nights and hot days and pack accordingly. There’s no agenda really, other than the meeting, the sale, having fun, and catching up with friends you haven’t seen in months,

Some Important Information:

* This is designed to be as low-key and stress-free as possible.
* There will be a Learning Tree workshop on Saturday, plus there should be lots of folks
around to compare notes, etc.
* Each person should bring their own food, equipment, chair, etc.
* If you don't wish to camp, feel free to come for the day.
* Friends, even those who are not fiber-inclined, are welcome too.
* Pets on leash are invited too.
* Should be warm enough during the day, but you may wish to bring your winter 'jammies
for nights.
* Suntan lotion too.
* A fire is allowed in the fire pit.

The Learning Tree theme for the retreat will be All Things Socks. This came out of a discussion about various ways to knit socks and people’s interest in learning new techniques. Barbara will be teaching magic loop and Sharon wanted to learn toe up. Heidi has picked up a new (to her) short row heal without wraps or yarn overs that she's willing to share. Bring your favorite technique or questions about socks and their construction.

GUILD QUESTION: Sometimes we learn more from disasters than we do from successes. Tell us about a fiber project that you learned a lot from, even if it didn't turn out well.

Allison Judge: What a great question! All of my dyeing endeavors have been disasters! Yep - ALL of them! Not because the fiber was ruined or the colors were ugly, but because I've never paid attention long enough, or taken any notes to be able to repeat one that (SURPRISE!) was a lovely colorway - just perfect for what I wanted it to be, but which I could never replicate. What have I learned? Leave the dyeing to others!

Nancy Pryor: I had a near disaster when I first began weaving. I bought two Columbia fleeces from a rancher in Fallon. The wool pool was paying nearly nothing for fleece and I paid him more. He didn't know, and neither did I that both fleeces were broken. I realized this when I began combing the fleece but I still was able to comb nine pounds of top and make a king sized blanket! It is a lovely warm blanket and was worth the year's work I invested in it. I have made more blunders making baskets and this is how I discovered that failed baskets make great kindling in the fireplace.

Connie Vann: Right now, I am working on a knitted project that began as hand-painted, merino/mohair roving. I spun it into 3 skeins of 2-ply sport yarn, (as it seems I am wont to do). Having picked out a stitch pattern, I am now knitting lacey blocks out of it. The yarn looks fine on the skein, but it has many different colors involved. The challenge will be how to unify all the blocks with a background color, and build a modular garment out of it. I will have to dye some fleece eggplant and get it fairly uniform throughout or the piece will come out "too busy." I could get the right color using cochineal, but I should probably use chemical dye so the whole thing will be dye-fast. Decisions, decisions.

Sharon Campbell: I seem to have a propensity for learning things the hard way – make sure the lesson sticks after all that suffering. After fits and starts and lots of wasted handspun yarn, I decided to buy unmercerized cotton and try weaving dishtowels. I ordered cones from Robin & Russ when they used to send samples. I had no idea what colors to buy so ordered randomly, picking absolutely the worst colors, but I soldiered on, deciding to make red, white and green stripes, think Mexican flag.

Laura had showed me how to warp from the front before she moved to Oregon. I wound small bouts, tied on and sleyed until I finally was ready to beam the warp. I don’t know if my warp chains were goofy or if I was. I ended up with the biggest mess of tangles, but oh yes, I soldiered on, you betcha, breaking warp threads left and right. That was the warp that taught me how to take care of a broken warp – no problemo. I hated that project so much that my weaving finally came to a halt. During a phone conversation with Laura, she told me that sometimes you just have to cut dog warps off and move on. So I held the phone to the warp with one hand and with the other, snipped through those warps and freed my loom from that nightmare. Two things learned in one painful project.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT PINK?

I’m a little fascinated by this color. Amy has a deep aversion to it and it’s my granddaughter’s absolute most favorite color of all. I’ve been thinking about it because six months ago I bought yarn to make Alexia a sweater, but the hot Pepto-Bismol color burns my fingers. I have spent six months trying to drum up the discipline to finish it. I feel bad when she asks me what happened to her “jacket,” but apparently not bad enough.

Pink has become the synonym for feminine. When my son was three, he fell in love with the pink jacket that our neighbor girl outgrew. He wore that jacket until the sleeves were too short. The only photo of him wearing it is in black and white. I knew he’d take a life-long teasing from his siblings otherwise. How did pink become so stigmatized?

I decided to take a wander through Wikipedia. The simple answer is that pink is a pale red color, a combination of red and white, with other tints being combinations of rose and white, magenta and white or orange and white. The use of the word for the color was first recorded in the late 17th century to describe the flowers of pink, flowering plants in the carnation family.

The practice of associating color with gender began in the 1920s, with pink considered appropriate for boys because red is more masculine, and blue appropriate for girls because it was from a more delicate and dainty color and related to the Virgin Mary. Reassignment began in the 1940s but they didn’t say why.

Pinko is a derogatory term for a person regarded as sympathetic to communism though not necessarily a communist party member. The idea is that pink isn’t quite red. My father used to say that when you slid through an intersection just as the light was turning red, you were running the light on the pink. And in Japan, cherry blossom pink is associated with a woman’s vagina, so soft-core porn films are called “pink movies.” Mary Kay chose pink to represent her product line, even driving a pink Cadillac, a healthy Brit is considered to be in the “pink of health,” and a termination of employment notice is referred to a pink slip.

As you can see, there’s more to this color than meets the eye. I just need to pick up that hot pink yarn languishing on needles and get focused.

NEVADA STATE FAIR:

Becky's winning ribbon.

Demonstrating at the Fair

Nancy judging and Marilyn assisting.

Young weavers

OREGON FLOCK AND FIBER FESTIVAL: This festival is fast approaching, September 26th and 27th, with classes starting on the 25th. It's in Canby, Oregon on the Clackamas County Fairgrounds, really a lovely facility. Ian and I were able to stop in several years ago on the way to my brother's and I'm trying to see if we can finagle our schedule to slide in a visit this year. The vendor list is long and enticing - for those who were unable to make Black Sheep in June. Here is another chance for a fiber festival. More information is on the website.

MUSINGS FROM SAGECREEK: I have loved county fairs for as long as I can remember. Very early I realized that I didn’t care for the rodeo or circus, but the fair, well that was a different matter. I couldn’t wait for my 10th birthday so I could join 4H and get to be part of the fair instead of just going to it. I love all fairs, even the giant ones like the California State Fair, but the intimacy and personality of the county fairs is just my speed.

The first thing I ever entered was a laundry bag that I had made in my sewing club. I was very proud of it, even though it was only two rectangles sewn together and hanging on a coat hanger. Sewing was my first club, though through the years I joined Electricity where I made a wireless set, and Cooking, where I learned to make skillet supper. I got so good at skillet supper that I didn’t even need to look at the recipe, and I was proud of that too. My mother, a professional cook who had long since burned out, was also proud but more likely relieved. In those days, women cooked a dinner every night of the week. Ultimately I took Sheep and raised them for the last three years I was in 4H. And now here I am again with sheep, but this time for fleece, not meat.

I grew up with the East San Diego County Fair, though as an adolescent my brother began taking me to the Nevada County Fair and then when I actually moved to that area as an adult, I began taking myself. The fairgrounds are absolutely wonderful, red barn-like buildings amongst grassy areas and under large trees. Over the years the attendance has completely mushroomed into a mob. What I enter now is myself, which is how I happened to be there this year with Amy, my spinning wheel and wool. Along with three other spinners, we shared the craft of turning fleece into yarn. Around us was the display of items that we had been crafted from these yarns.

I am doing the same at the Nevada State Fair, which in spite of its name, has all the feel of a county fair. Instead of a lovely wooden structure, we are in a very large tent and out in back with the animals. It is rudimentary and requires that we cobble together the tent canopy with hog panels and tarps, duct-taped together to provide a floor. All the sounds and smells contribute to our authenticity, and we too are surrounded by the things we have made. A man teased Amy at the Nevada County Fair – You know, you can buy perfectly good yarn at the store and it would cost you a lot less. Her answer to that was – Do you like to fish? Did you can buy fish at the grocery store? His wife said touche, and then they all laughed, because of course, hobbies are part of who we are.

CLASSIFIED ADS: (A free service to our guild members. Ads run six months unless otherwise requested)

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Shetland Sheep: Small primitive breed. Wool, breeders or meat custom cut and wrapped at Wiggins in Chilcoot or do it yourself. Ever tasted Shetland meat? I have samples if you'd like to give it a try! Mimi Bullard 969-3249

LOOM FOR FREE: I have a 6 heedle (might be 8, but I can't be sure) floor loom free to a good home. It has a heddle that sticks, but otherwise seems to work ok. I bought it from Wes and Brenda Pound and have never used it. It folds on itself and can store in a small space.
If interested, call 775-331-8148. Roxanne Nelson

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Loom for Sale: I have a well traveled and seldom used 4 harness Leclerc - Nilus loom for sale. I was wondering if the information could be passed on to your Spinners and Weavers group. I would love to find the loom a good home. My name is Paula Pennington phone (530) 694-2380. I live in Woodfords. Paula Pennington merganser@gbis.com (3/09)

Yarn for Sale: I have a large quantity of lamb’s wool and lambs wool/mohair in skeins. The yarn is medium gauge 2-ply and is ready to be dyed. Skeins range in size and cost is $15 - $20 per lb. The wool was raised in an organic environment on my friend’s farm in Southern Alberta Canada. Contact: Tricia Boyko at triciaboyko@hotmail.com (3/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Notes from July Guild Meeting

2009-07-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Treasures Report-Get info from Doris

Nevada State Fair
Amy first announced that after this year she is stepping down from being the chair of the Fair Project. It is time she said. The group will need to decide what direction our presence at the Fair will take. She is still looking for judges. Since there is no open sheep show at the Fair this year she hadn’t heard if there will be a lamb there for the name the sheep contest. There are very few books being printed for the fair this year. Mailed entries must be post marked by July 24. Online entries are due by 7/31 on-line here. (This is the index for the Handspun & Handwoven. You can see Rules & Regs, Categories and Entry Forms.)

Newsletter-Sharon
Since the newsletter has moved to a blog format it is easier to add information and can be done more often. The minutes now can be added as soon as Sharon gets them. She requests that there be no special formatting to the minutes. It doesn’t translate well from Word to the blog.

Learning Tree-Barb and Mim
Barb informed us that she can no longer be committee co-chair but will be able to teach for us.
At the August meeting Mim will demo wet felting and we will be able to get our hands wet as well.

September, the theme for the retreat will be All Things Socks. This came out of a discussion about various ways to knit socks and people’s interest in learning new techniques. Barbara will be teaching magic loop and Sharon wanted to learn toe up. Heidi has picked up a new (to her) short row heal without wraps or yo’s she’ll willing to share. Bring your favorite technique or questions about socks and their construction.

For October and November we have two subjects but it will depend on Amy’s schedule as to which subject will be on which month. The two subjects are needle felting with Amy and Modular knitting with Nancy P. December as always is you Christmas meeting with a silent auction.

Weaving Study Group -Nancy P
We met at Marilyn Clarke's house and had a good time. Nancy put a warp on her loom using a warping wheel for tension. Heidi got her loom sleyed, and tied on and is ready to weave. Marilyn showed how to use a computer with a loom. The July meeting (July 25th) will be at Sharon’s house. The next project will be weaving cloth for garments. Lots of thing can be made from squares and rectangles.

Old Business
Last year it was brought up that maybe those folks who choose to camp at the spinners retreat should/would pay/donate $10 toward the cost of the site at Davis Creek. This item came up at a time when we were short of money and the County had changed their policy and wanted the rental costs up front instead of half in January and half right before. After a lively discussion it was decided that if a camper wanted to make a donation they could but there will not be a charge for overnight use.

Show-n-Tell
A joint project by Lauren and Kathleen, Kathleen spun the yarn and Lauren knit it up.
Lauren did some stick weaving.
Nancy P. showed towels from the warp she put on her loom at the Weaving Study group. A freshly washed Merino fleece and a bottle of “Super Clean.” She gets this stuff from Walmart and adds about a cup to her “wash” water when she cleans a fleece. She is cold water washing these days and this stuff work great.
Libby had another pair of socks, in Alpaca.
Sharon - Towels and a pair of socks. She learned that not all tape measures are created equal.
Heidi showed off her newest wheel, a Louet Victoria with a Woolee winder. She also show us a new technique for spinning and plying Navajo on the fly on a drop spindle. More information on this technique is available here.
Eileen is spinning wolf fiber that she got from the Animal Ark. She is then knitting it up into small items to be sold at the Gift shop.

Meeting Adjourned.

June 2009 Meeting Minutes

2009-07-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2009 Minutes

Meeting Called to Order: Mary B.. co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. Twenty-three people were in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
Our balance has gone up since the fiber sale. All total we have made $522.00 from the fiber sale. There is one more pound of soy silk fiber to sell. We have one new member. We received $5 donation for the inkle workshop, plus $22.00 were received for our donated items. We have collected $150.00 for the Keep the Fleece International scarf project. Balance in our account is $1,876.38. We will have some upcoming fair expenses. Davis Creek Campground is already paid for for our September meeting.

Doris suggested we do not pay $50.00 to join HGA (Handweaver’s Guild of America). After some discussion, all agreed not to renew our membership.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Committee Reports

Old Business

State Fair – Amy
No open sheep show. We’re still looking for judges for fleece and fiber arts. Marilynn suggested we go to Placer Co. for judges since many people from here have judged there. The fair is Aug. 26th through 30th. Doris mentioned we need to make more drop spindles. Mary B. suggested having 30 kits. Doris said we have sold up to 20 kits before. Nancy Pryor volunteered to make the kits for the guild.

Connie mentioned in the past that we had talked about donating something that is handmade and use that to raise funds for the guild. Amy suggested that we are currently asking for donations for the Keep the Fleece scarf project, so maybe we should not ask for anything this year, but discuss it later in the year for something to do in 2010. Everyone agreed with Amy’s suggestion. Mary B. said we all might consider making something that we would donate to the guild to help us raise funds for our organization.

Learning Tree – Barbara
Barbara is stepping down from this committee. Mim is on the committee and is having a project at her place for July’s meeting. Today Barbara will show magic loop knitting.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
The June meeting will be at Marilynn Clarkes’ home on June 27th from 10AM-2PM. Nancy will be warping her loom. Cost is $20.00.

Keep the Fleece World’s Largest Scarf Project
Heidi is not here today to give a report. Currently Annabelle has the scarf.

Meeting Site for November
Linda Lindsay will contact the Carson City National Guard Armory to see if the space is available. She also mentioned there is a coffee shop in Dayton that has a meeting room available. Mary B. has reserved Sky Peaks for November just in case the Armory is not available.

Meeting Locations
Jan- Sky Peak
Feb. & March – South Valley Library
April, June, August, Oct. & Dec –Bartley Ranch
May-Doris Woloszyn
July- Mim Bullard
Nov.- to be determined.

Storage of Guild Items
Annabelle has taken the tubs with the fair items from Toni and is storing them for us.

Western Heritage Festival – Amy
It was held on May 30th from 2pm-7pm. Not many from the guild were present. Even though the weather wasn’t the best it seemed to go fairly well.

New Business

Animal Ark -Amy
They are looking for someone interested in spinning some wool. They use the items made from this wool to sell in their gift shop. The wool is not very clean and cannot be washed before making an item or the item will felt. It might be best to blend their wool with some of your own. Contact Animal Ark if you are interested.

Military Hats – Sue Gottsacker
A total of 47 hats were made for our military from local fiber artists.

Weaving Websites
Sharon mentioned a new website call Weave-a-lution coming this summer. You will be able to browse this site, Mary B. mention a great site for lots of patterns is in Ravelry.

Donated Items Available
Janet mentioned we made $51.00 today on donated items of hand knit socks by Toni and two plants. The socks were donated from the winner from last month.

Show ‘n Tell
Mary B. – spun on the new Bee wheel and said it is very nice spinning and is very compact. Amy was going to put a link to their site. Showed baby blankets with crochet edges, plus pink yarn she bought at The Wool Room in Quincy.
Linda Lindsay – found the sample crochet book done by her grandmother
Connie – woven golf towels
Nancy Pryor – took a class on weave structure and showed woven silk scarf
Kathleen – long thigh high socks for her daughter
Marilynn – dyed yarn and plied with silk
Eileen – handspun skein of llama
Linda Loken. – double weave pickup sampler
Carolyn – handspun skein from Mim’s roving
Sharon – hand knit socks, knit hat and finger gloves from Noro yarn
Mary L. – knit poncho for her granddaughter

The meeting was adjourned for pot luck lunch.

Submitted by Judy Wells

July Edition of Whorled News

2009-07-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers
2120 Ives Ave
Reno NV 89503
Sharon Campbell, Editor
(775) 846-9095 (cell)
(775) 969-3121 (long distance)

Officers:
Co-Presidents: Toni Pearce and Mary Bayer
Secretary: Judy Wells
Treasurer: Doris Woloszyn, (530) 993-4296
Whorled News is published bimonthly, six times a year on odd months.

July 11th Guild Meeting is at Mim Bullard’s in Ranch Haven. Brown Bag.
Driving directions: From Reno, drive north on Hwy 395 to the first Red Rock exit, after the Stead Blvd exit. Drive 20 miles to the Sierra Ranchos Valley, and take the first left (after Jeanette Miller’s alpaca ranch ) onto Arabian. It’s a dirt road but has a county sign. Drive up into the valley and turn left on Rancho, then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle. If you are coming in from California, the north Red Rock exit is 13 miles past the exit for Hwy 70 at Hallelujah Junction and only turns right. Continue four miles from the State line, past the volunteer fire house and turn right on Rancho, at mailbox central. There is a cell signal at the mail boxes. Mim’s number is 775-969-3249. You must use 775. Drive about two miles and turn right on Rancho, then continue several hundred yards and turn right on Thoroughbred. Mim is about two miles up and on the right – 455 Thoroughbred Circle.

August 8th Guild Meeting location is the Bartley Ranch School House. Potluck.

Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the parking lot on the right, following the bridge. Bring something for the White Sale; proceeds go to the guild treasury. Plan to shop from fellow guild members. There always seems to plenty of temptation for the fiber soul and wallet. This meeting is Potluck.

MAY 9, 2009 MINUTES

Welcome and Introductions: Toni. co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed the members. Introductions were done. Sixteen people were in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have two more members. Nancy Pryor gave $12.00 to the guild from the Weaving Study Group. We have received $392.00 from the fiber sale and there is still more money to come in. To date we have received $80 for the scarf project being promoted by Keep the Fleece. These funds will be sent to Keep the Fleece, who in turn will send the donation to Heifer International. Our current balance is $1250.34. with our insurance already paid.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Committee Reports

Old Business

State Fair – Amy
To see the fair competition handbook, go to the fair Website. Google Nevada State Fair to find the site. There is a new novice section in the skein category for individuals spinning less than one year. Items entered into the fair must have been completed since August 2008.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
The May meeting will be at Judy Wells’ home on May 16thth from 10AM-2PM. Judy will e-mail directions to her house. Meetings are going well. There is lots of repetition so individuals could join in any meetings. We have been working on how to plan a warp. Nancy’s purpose is to simplify loom weaving for others. Cost is $20.00.

Keep the Fleece World’s Largest Scarf Project – Heidi
We have earned $80 in donations toward this project at this time. Annabelle will take the scarf next. Remember when you have the scarf to add your information to the journal. Amy asked the people who run the fair whether we could do the scarf project at the fair. The livestock people from the fair were very excited about this project and wanted to possibly feature this in the fair promotion.

Carson Valley 4-H Days – Toni
Toni participated and said they were lots of great questions from the kids. The second day there were a lot more kids. She thinks this might have been due to the newspaper article.

Meeting Site for November
Linda Lindsay will contact the Carson City National Guard Armory to see if the space is available. Mary B. has reserved Sky Peaks for November just in case the Armory is not available.

Meeting Locations
Jan- Sky Peak , Feb. & March – South Valley Library, April, June, August, Oct. & Dec –Bartley Ranch, May-Doris Woloszyn, July- Mim Bullard, Nov.- to be determined.

Storage of Guild Items – Toni
Annabelle has taken the tubs with the fair items from Toni and is storing them for us.
New Business

Western Heritage Festival – Amy
It is being held on May 30th from 2pm-7pm. A space is being held for us. Period dress is not required. Mary B has been working on this. Arrive prior to 2pm in order to set up.

Rancho San Rafael Botanical Society – Marilynn Clarke
She passed around information on the Michigan Fiber Festival. She also mentioned that May 16th is a program being put on about fire abatement. Their June 6th meeting will be the annual plant sale.

Upcoming Fiber Festival – Sharon Campbell
Sharon mentioned that in October is the Warner Valley Fiber Festival. She will provide more information in the future about this event.

Local coffee from Chilcoot – Doris
Doris mentioned the coffee she served today is from a local coffee place in Chilcoot. They also have a coffee club. If anyone is interested just let her know and she will provide you with information.

Donated Items Available – Toni
Toni mentioned to look at the donated items that were available in case you might wish to make a donation to the guild for them.

Printing CSSW Newsletter – Amy
To print the newsletter from the blog site: Click on title newsletter, and then you can print only the newsletter pages.

Show ‘n Tell
Marilynn – showed a book she has found to be very good Natural Dyes by Gwen Fereday
Annabelle – angora knit shawl
Toni – her new flying llama tattoo
Janet S. – skein of handspun wool
Virva – her first knit pair of lace pattern socks
Amy –working on purple zippered hoodie jacket; sample of handspun & dyed purple yarn
Sharon – hand knit Shetland Chullo hat
Connie – a table runner which is her first hand-woven piece; skein of handspun & hand painted
merino mohair
Nancy Pryor – finger gloves knit with Nora Crayon yarn

The meeting was adjourned.

Your LYS (Local Yarn Store) Report – Allison Judge
I put together a short questionnaire for two newly opened yarn stores in our community. Over the months I will be sending out questionnaires to other yarn stores in Reno, Minden, and the California Foothills area. We are so fortunate to have so many choices now. I hope the shop owner's answers to my questions will encourage you to seek these shops out!

Name of store: Woolly Notions
Telephone: 530-836-1680
Location: Hwy 89, Graeagle, CA
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday 10am to 5pm, with plans to be open 7 days a week for the summer
Owner: Victoria Williams

1. How long have you been knitting? Nine years
2. What other fiber interests do you have? Interested in all - just not enough time!
3. What possessed you to open a yarn store? Love of yarn, putting together projects, sharing that enthusiasm with others and the sense of community that goes along with a small shop.
4. When did you open your store? April 4, 2009
5. How do you see your shop serving the local community and/or the larger community? To encourage creativity by providing a positive, nurturing and welcoming environment to do so.
6. Do you have special knitting/fiber events planned? On-going classes, winter projects and workshops.
7. What do you offer besides yarn? Needlearts supplies, books, gifts by local artist: Clio Art Glass, Seqoria's Beeswax Candles, Rustic Roosts birdhouse and jewelry by Sublime Serendipity.
8. What knitting (or other fiber craft) projects are taking up your time these days? A top out of the CEY Make It Modern booklet and a Noro cardigan.

Note: You can find Woolly Notions just south on Hwy 89 on the east side about 1 block south of the junction of Graeagle Johnsonville Rd. She and husband Matt have renovated one of those really cute red and white houses that line Hwy 89 - Allison

Name of Store: Lake Tahoe Yarn Company
Telephone: 530-587-1060
Location: 10250 Donner Pass Rd Ste 1, Truckee, Ca 96161
Hours: Tues - Sat, 10 - 5:30pm
Sun, 11-4pm
Closed Monday
Owner: Kelly Hechinger

1. I've been knitting since I was a little girl. I think I was about 6 or 7 when my Aunt Daisy taught me. (I don't know if she was really my Aunt)

2. I love almost all fiber. I'm not a huge fan of the artificial types but I now realize they do have a place. I have a fondness for alpaca/wool combos and my newest love is cashmere.

3. I opened a yarn store to fill a need. My own as well as the community. The knitters and crocheters needed a place to go. Plus I felt like at this time in my fiber evolutionary education, I had learned enough to take a shot at it and hopefully do a good job.

4. I opened Oct 1, 2008, just as the market started to drop.

5. I think any local shop should make it a point to do what they can to improve their community. Whether it's clean up days or walking to support cancer or knitting baby sets or warm hats for people less fortunate. We should all do our share. I think knitters are very grounded people and feel a strong need to knit in support for their communities.

6. I have several special summer events planned. June 27th is going to be a fun dye day, July 18th is going to be a Tahoe Luncheon Cruise with Lorna Mizer formally of Lorna's Laces and new author of "Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting,” doing a book signing during the cruise, and August 8th a kayak day on Tahoe, beach lunch and beach knitting.

7. Besides yarn I sell roving, teach beginning spinning, knitting and crocheting classes. I also sell hand woven blankets, placemats and kitchen towels.

8. One of my newest challenges is adding beads to knitting, I also just learned entrelac, thanks to a wonderful class given by Allison Judge, that I'm enjoying trying out in new colors. I've also become quite smitten with lace. I see a cashmere lace scarf in my future!

I learned knitting as a kid. Somewhere along the line in my teens I picked up crocheting and embroidery. Included in there somewhere was counted cross stitch, crewel, and sewing. Then came quilts for my children, and hand quilting. Then about 12 years ago I went to a craft fair and saw a woman spinning. I went home got on line and ordered a spinning wheel. I had no idea how to use it, but I knew I needed to know. Once again through the Internet, I found Allison (she used to be in Truckee and I worked for her) She now lived in Reno and invited me to a CSSW meeting. There I learned the final detail I needed to have my wheel up and running and spinning wool. Lots of spinners are also weavers, so there started the fascination with weaving. I took a class at Hazel Ryland’s house in Carson over a weekend and dove head first into weaving. Along the way I learned about different fiber types and how they behave. Why some are good for one thing but not another. That brings me to today and now I can pass along some of what I have learned from my awesome mentors.

My biggest hope is that I always have a shop that is warm, friendly, inspiring, educating and fun! This is the goal in my life right now. I also have to thank a wonderful husband who has put up with serious fiber addiction problem and all the 4 legged kids who never seem to mind the fiber and bring me nothing but love!

Note: since the survey, Kelly has done the dye day but plans to offer more. And she’s very excited to be moving to a new locale. Look for her at her new address on Donner Pass Road in the Gateway Center come September 1st. - Allison

Woolgathering 2009: COLOR and a fleece harvest on the farm. Four days and full-moon nights in Surprise Valley, October 1st-4th. Hosted by Warner Mountain Weavers 530-279-2164 and Sophie’s Icelandic Sheep. More information on their website

GUILD QUESTION: We are approaching the time when we’ll need to buckle down and start working on Christmas presents. This question is for sock knitters. Toe-up, top-down or do you have a preference? And what is your favorite sock yarn and/or pattern, or sock that you were so happy with that you know you will knit it again?

Amy Shannon: Once I found a few good stretchy cast-offs, I became a dedicated toe-up knitter. The best part of toe-up is that you never have to worry about starting the toe in time to not run out of yarn. Beyond handspun, the best sock yarn I have used is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. It is superwash, soft, and very durable. I have yet to wear a hole in any socks I have knit with it, even though I have machine washed them a hundred or so times. Just beware the dryer, for they will shrink if machine dried.

Connie Vann: I've never tried toe-up socks, so I can't vouch for them. But, I enjoyed knitting Alligator Lace Socks out of cotton-cashmere yarn. I like to knit any kind of sock pattern that works. And, I love socks as a take-along project. Actually, I still have much to learn about knitting socks.

Mary B: I like very simple socks with little if any pattern made from DK weight yarn on size 2 two needles to push the stitches together to made a substantial fabric. Must be top down on three dps while drinking (either hot or iced-depending on the season) I like the meditative rhythm of going round and round and measure the parts of the sock using my index finger and length of the needle. I use subdued colors of yarn that can be machine washed and then dried flat. Socks for me need to feel cushy to feel good. I am behind and am planning on knitting several pair this summer, along with a couple of scarves and a sweater for my great niece. Happy knitting everyone!

Sharon Campbell: I’m a toe-up knitter wanna be. Amy showed me how to do the provisional cast-on and I’m practicing on some leftover sock yarn. Meanwhile, I could knit top-down socks in my sleep. I’m sure the reason I enjoy them so much is because they’re portable, open to improvisation and they’re what I know. I’ve incorporated some lace patterns from my Harmony Guide and been very happy. As for yarn, I like how Lorna’s Laces feels on my feet, but I don’t like how the colors pool in spots instead of being spread out. I also like Knit Pick superwash sock yarn but the colors are really limited. The socks do feel good. I don’t like the self-striping yarns like Regia because they feel abrasive on the soles of my feet when I walk. I’ve just discovered a new yarn by Indie Dyer that is custom dyed for Jimmy Beans. It’s tightly twisted yet still soft and the color repeats are short so the color is spread evenly. I can’t tell you how they feel though, as the pair I’m knitting are a gift.

Musings from Sage Creek: Sharon Campbell

How was it that I came to be chasing a snake around the house? Growing up in East San Diego County, I’ve been afraid of snakes as long as I can remember. My parents had my 8th birthday party at a county park, to which a rattlesnake brought high drama. The ranger killed it, and then gave an impromptu talk on snake etiquette to the rather large group of picnickers who had gathered. I asked for the rattles but surrendered them to the college kids who groaned, wishing they had through of it first. I realized that I didn’t really want them – yuck.

Some three years ago I discovered the broader world that comes with blogging. The word blog is a contraction of web log. I started by reading blogs of other hand-spinners and weavers, and finally and timidly at first, I embarked on my own. It’s a wonderful virtual forum and opportunity to exchange ideas. Most weaving blogs are on the East Coast, and I think it’s because that’s where the weaving mills in America were and where the tradition has stayed on. Also, home looms are just more available back there. I discovered that whenever I added Nevada to a post, readers would be amazed at how different the High Desert is. They are especially fond of our gorgeous clouds, as am I.
One day about three weeks ago, Ian had the garage open and was stacking firewood inside, replenishing our stock of snowy weather dry wood. He came in the house and asked if I wanted to see what he had just taken out of the garage. It turned out to be a gopher snake that he had relocated to the top of the bank using a lawn rake. The snake came back down, and Ian removed one angry hissing snake with the rake again.

Quite a while later, we were relaxing on the front porch when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a piece of wasp’s nest or something honeycombed, but then it moved and darned if it wasn’t that same snake. I ran in the house for my camera. Ian asked if I wanted him to move the snake again, but I was starting to feel sorry for him. Besides, I could see a blog post shaping up. I followed that snake as he moved around the perimeter of our house and garage. He was tentative and slow but directed. When he rounded the corner of the garage and saw the woodpile, he shot right for it.

We realized after the fact, that Ian’s stacking had startled the snake and he exited the pile to enter the garage and two subsequent relocations. He was just trying to get back home. I had no idea that snakes had the ability to know a place and return to it, but this guy did. We haven’t seen him since. I’m sure he’s busy taking care of the rodent population in the woodpile and I got a great blog post out of it.

GOLD DISCOVERY DAYS: Spinning, weaving, fiber arts demo opportunity at the 50th Anniversary celebration in Plumas Eureka State Park near Johnsville/Graeagle, CA on July 18 & 19, 2009. Period costume is encouraged. Call 530-836-1182 or 530-836-0783 for information. You can also contact Anna Harvey at 916-217-8220.

CLASSIFIED ADS: (A free service to our guild members. Ads run six months unless otherwise requested)

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Shetland Sheep: Small primitive breed. Wool, breeders or meat custom cut and wrapped at Wiggins in Chilcoot or do it yourself. Ever tasted Shetland meat? I have samples if you'd like to give it a try! Mimi Bullard 969-3249

Loom for Sale: For Sale like new, Kromski Rigid Heddle Loom 24 inches $200.00 firm. Call Vivian Olds, 575-5516 (7/09)

Loom for Sale: 8 Harness Gilmore 42" Loom. Includes Bench, Removable top tray, shuttles, raddle & clamp and 12 yard warping board. I purchased this loom new, a few years ago from Gilmore. It is beautiful and in excellent condition. Original cost was $2187.00 not including the bench and other accessories. Need to sell, will consider all reasonable offers. You can reach me via Email. 1960bndonohue@msn.com Nancy Donohue (7/09)

Loom for Sale: I have a well traveled and seldom used 4 harness Leclerc - Nilus loom for sale. I was wondering if the information could be passed on to your Spinners and Weavers group. I would love to find the loom a good home. My name is Paula Pennington phone (530) 694-2380. I live in Woodfords. Paula Pennington merganser@gbis.com (3/09)

Yarn for Sale: I have a large quantity of lamb’s wool and lambs wool/mohair in skeins. The yarn is medium gauge 2-ply and is ready to be dyed. Skeins range in size and cost is $15 - $20 per lb. The wool was raised in an organic environment on my friend’s farm in Southern Alberta Canada. Contact: Tricia Boyko at triciaboyko@hotmail.com (3/09)

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

June Meeting Reminder

2009-06-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi folks –

I want to remind you that our guild meeting is this Saturday at Bartley Ranch and it is a potluck. The actual meeting is 11:00 but plan to come early to visit. For some reason it seems that we have shopping opportunities when we meet at Bartley.

Bartley Ranch:. Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the main parking lot. Cross the covered bridge and turn right into the parking lot for the School House.

I look forward to seeing you all then!
Sharon

May Issue Whorled News

2009-05-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Whorled News

The Newsletter of the Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers
March 2009

Whorled News is a bimonthly, published six times a year on odd months.
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Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers
2120 Ives Ave
Reno NV 89503
Sharon Campbell, Editor
(775) 846-9095 (cell)
(775) 969-3121 (long distance)
institches@rtci.net

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May 9th Guild Meeting is at Doris Woloszyn’s High Plains Ranch in Chilcoot, California. Brown Bag.

Driving directions: Hwy. 395 north from Reno, past Bordertown into California. Exit 395 at Hwy. 70 to Portola/Quincy, turn left on Hwy. 70 going west for about 2 miles. Turn left on Scott Road after crossing Long Valley Creek, before going up Beckwourth Pass. Scott Road is dirt, and after 4/10 mile to the railroad crossing you’ll pass 2 homes (stay left on main road, not right up the hill), the railroad tracks and creek will be on your left.

Continue south on Scott Road for one and a half miles to a small bridge over Scott Creek.
Another 4/10 mile to a large Cottonwood tree and the 3rd home, this is where the county stops grading the road so it’s a little rougher. Another 2/10 mile to several buildings on hill with SPRAGUE sign, but stay to left and pass the driveway. Next 3/10 mile the road curves from left to right up a small hill. Stay to the right at the fork, going up the hill and look for my 404-185 sign on a “rock jack” fence corner. This is where you turn right onto my driveway.

My driveway is 4/10 mile, first straight with a wooden fence on the left and barb wire fence on the right, then at the next group of rock jacks curve right, down over the culvert and uphill to my house …cedar siding with a dark green metal roof and large wooden barn in back. Sounds complicated but there are very few places out here. I’ll try to put up some signs to help. Call 530-993-4296 if you have questions or need help.

June 13th Guild Meeting location is the Bartley Ranch School House. Potluck.

Drive .8 mile west from the intersection of McCarran Blvd and Hwy 395. Turn left (south) on Lakeside Drive and continue .4 mile. Bartley Ranch is at the north base of Windy Hill. Turn left on Bartley Ranch Road and continue several hundred feet to the parking lot on the right, following the bridge. Bring something for the White Sale; proceeds go to the guild treasury. Plan to shop from fellow guild members. There always seems to plenty of temptation for the fiber soul and wallet. This meeting is Potluck.

MARCH 14, 2009 MINUTES

Welcome and Introductions: Toni. co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed the members. Introductions were done. Twenty-two members were present.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have five more members for a current total of 38 paid members. In January we received a $10.00 donation for the inkle workshop. The insurance bill of $519.00 was received and paid. The insurance cost was lower than last year. Current balance is $1146.34.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Committee Reports

State Fair – Amy

She had the draft competition book. The document should probably be out in April. The fair is a week later this year. It opens on Wed. 8/26 and ends Sunday, Aug. 30th. There is still a need for a judge for Saturday. A discussion was held regarding the featured fiber for the fair. It was decided that fine wool would be the selected fiber. Amy will put this in the fair book. The entry must be something completed after August 1, 2007. Having a beginning category was discussed. Amy will request putting beginning category on the entry form.

Learning Tree

Mim will provide the Learning Tree today. She will share knowledge of fibers that will be up for sale at the April meeting. Today, Barbara will also give brief refresher on weaving done at the January meetings

Old Business

Inkle Workshop - Amy
Amy has scheduled a new date for April 18, 2009. Amy will check on the location and let people know. Tying your heddles ahead of time would be helpful. Amy will supply the cotton yarn. .Judy’s husband has made some belt shuttles that are useful to use on the inkle loom. Should anyone be interested in getting one let Judy know. Contact Amy if you have any questions about the workshop

Keep the Fleece World’s Largest Scarf Project – Heidi
Heidi described the project. The United Nations has designated 2009 as the Year of Natural Fibers. The organization called Keep the Fleece is promoting natural fibers by creating a fund raising project to knit the world’s largest scarf. Funds raised in the project will go to Heifer International. Funds are raised by donations of $10.00 per inch of scarf that has been either knit, crochet, woven or felted from natural fibers. Scarves are to be 9” wide by 5 ft. long. Scarves need to be completed by our September meeting, since they are sent to Keep the Fleece to be sewn together in October. After the scarves are shown together and measured, they will be taken apart and given to organizations in need. Heidi would be willing to coordinate the project, collect the money and create a journal to go with the scarves. Mim said it would be a great idea for a booth at the fair.. Connie motioned we take this on as a guild project. Seconded by Linda Loken. Motioned passed. Heidi will gladly accept donations of natural handspun fibers for this project. Friday, Oct.16th is International Wool Day.

Amy suggested making a list of people to pass the scarf from one person to another. The scarf was also passed around at the meeting for people to knit on during the meeting.

Meeting Site for November
Linda Lindsay is still checking on the Carson City Armory. Mary B. has reserved Sky Peaks for November just in case the Armory is not available.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
Nancy Pryor mentioned we will get together for a few minutes after the meeting to discuss materials we should gather to be prepared. She said not to worry if you cannot make a meeting. This month’s meeting is at Heidi Ericson’s. Cost is $20.00.

Meeting Locations: Jan- Sky Peak; Feb. & March – South Valley Library; April, June, August, Oct. & Dec –Bartley Ranch; May-Doris Woloszyn; July- Mim Bullard, and November - to be determined.

New Business

Storage – Toni: Toni can no longer store Guild materials. We need to find another location in the next few weeks for 3 tubs that are approximately 2 1/2ft. wide by 3-4ft. long, plus a bag of tarps. Wherever they are stored they need to be available to access during the Fair.

Linda Loken was storing the triangle loom, but would like to give it to someone else. Mary B. agreed to store this loom.

4-H Days in Carson City will be April 23rd and 24th at Fuji Park. Annabelle will be there. They are looking for demonstrators. You are usually done by around 1:30P.M.

Reno Farm Days: Mim mention the Reno Farms Days are at the end of March. More demonstrators are welcome. More details will be at the yahoo site.

Farmer’s Day at Plumas Eureka State Park on July 18th and 19th. It is their 50th anniversary. Looking for weavers that would wear period clothes. Doris will send information to Amy to send out. You could contact Anna Harvey 916-217-8220 for more information.

Botanical Society – Marilynn Clarke: Meetings are at San Rafael Ranch House. March 21st meeting is on pruning. April 18th the meeting is called Pumpkin and Pansies.

CSSW Website – Amy Shannon
The Web site must now be off the University of Reno’s server. Our information we want “open to the world” will now be put on a blogger site. This will have our newsletter, guild library and other information. It can be set up to link to e-mails. We don’t want everyone in the public to be able to post to it. Amy is listed as the official owner.

The new Guild site: www.carsonsierraspinnerandweavers.blogspot.com The Yahoo group is still our guild communication.

If you didn’t get an e-mail from Amy this past week, check your junk mail site. Add this new address cssw@lists.unr.edu.

Today’s donation items collected $49.00.

Show ‘n Tell

Sharon – showed her business card from www.vistaprint.com and mini-moo cards from www.moo.com Barbara – showed socks she has knit from yarn she colored with fabric markers. Nancy Pryor – showed silk woven scarves. Linda Lindsay – a woven blue scarf that was alpaca-wool blend. The warp was wool and the weft was alpaca-wool blend.

The meeting was adjourned. It was followed by a brown bag lunch and Learning Tree Program.

APRIL 11th, 2009 MINUTES

Welcome and Introductions: Mary B. co-president, called the meeting to order and welcomed the members. Introductions were done. Fourteen people were in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report – Doris
We have two more members for a current total of 40 paid members. Last month we received $49.00 for donated items, plus $5.00 for a stick weaving kit. Our current balance is $1250.34.

Membership runs from January through December. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn,
P. O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105 and make checks payable to: Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.

Committee Reports

Old Business

State Fair – Jen
Work is currently being done on the fair book.

Learning Tree - Barbara
May – We will put together drop spindles for the fair. We will also learn how to skirt a fleece. The May will be held at Doris Woloszyn’s home. Mary thanked Barbara for picking up the fleece from Sharon for our fleece sale for today’s meeting.

Weaving Study Group – Nancy Pryor
The April meeting will be at Connie Vance’s home on April 25th from 10AM-2PM. Cost is $20.00. Nancy asked for feedback from the last meeting. People should tell her what they liked and what they think could be improved.

Inkle Workshop – Mary B.
The new date is scheduled for May 2, 2009. It will be held at Sky Peaks from 10AM – 4PM. Tying your heddles ahead of time would be helpful. Amy will supply the cotton yarn. Judy’s husband has made some belt shuttles that are useful to use on the inkle loom. Should anyone be interested in getting one let Judy know. Contact Amy if you have any questions about the workshop

Keep the Fleece World’s Largest Scarf Project – Heidi
Heidi has the journal for people to write in when they add to the scarf. She also has coupons to share with people to describe this project. Funds are raised by donations of $10.00 per inch of scarf that has been either knit, crochet, woven or felted from natural fibers. It was discussed and decided that Doris will handle the money donated for this project.

Meeting Site for November
Linda Lindsay will contact the Carson City National Guard Armory in the next month to see if the space is available. Mary B. has reserved Sky Peaks for November just in case the Armory is not available.

Meeting Locations: Jan- Sky Peak; Feb. & March – South Valley Library; April, June, August, Oct. & Dec –Bartley Ranch; May-Doris Woloszyn; July- Mim Bullard, and November - to be determined.

Fiber Sale
Doris mentioned we had sold approximately $185.00 worth of fiber prior to the meeting and more fiber was still available to be purchased.

Storage of Guild Items
Toni and her husband are still looking for someone to store the tubs containing guild materials for the fair, plus the tarps. They would like to give these items another “home” as soon as possible. If you would be interested in storing them, please contact Toni.

New Business

Learning Tree – Barbara
She is looking for ideas for the Learning Tree for upcoming meetings. Some suggestions that were mentioned: 1) Needle felting – Amy; 2) Demonstration of charka spinning - Heidi, and 3) Wheel maintenance. Heidi mentioned that Spin-Off has printed Alden Amos’ booklet on wheel maintenance and it is available for $8.00. She would be willing to order several booklets in people wanted to purchase them. Jen mentioned that at the wheel maintenance meeting if people could brings names of individuals that could service spinning wheels or provide spinning materials like bobbins.

Other Business

Mary has a question about whether anyone had see the spinning wheel Evolution Mac One. Heidi has seen one and said it was amazing. She has a friend that sells them. She will contact her friend about possibly coming to a meeting to give a demonstration.

Show ‘n Tell
Doris – brought an 11-day-old lamb that will be raised by Annabelle for fiber
Connie – showed a book entitled Shibori Knitted Felt which she said is a good resource
Marilynn – recently received an excellent book on dying and how it evolved through the years. It is expensive at around $250.00 and can be purchased online through Earthues.
David – showed mitten he was knitting called thrummed mittens that use roving, knitted into the mittens to form a lining. He also mentioned he owns 3 llamas.
Heidi – mentioned books that had been donated to the guild from Jimmy Bean’s wool. We could use these for fundraisers each month as donated items.
Jen – showed fiber she has just bought from the fiber sale
Mary – showed a skein of yarn she had spun which is finer than most spinning she had done.

Heidi motioned the meeting be adjourned. Connie seconded. Motion passed. The meeting was followed by a pot luck lunch.

Update from Texas Hill Country - Polly Holmes

I took fiber over to Paint Rock, Texas to have rugs made. I had the moorit Merino from my ram and some other white wool of unknown origin. Anyway, the only thing that saved us was that we brought older coarser mohair fleeces to blend with the wool. The wool was too fine but the rug company felt that the adult mohair would save the day. The rug folks had also never seen naturally colored mohair and so this was new to them...the reds, black and grey tones. On the way back Tracy Ross and I were smiling about the too fine wool and the tough mohair.

We have both been working with the fine, white mohair from the Texas goats and have really gotten spoiled. I never thought I would say that, but when each fine white fleece is just like the next, variations really stand out. However, it was old goat that saved the day in Paint Rock. The rug Company has a neat web site and they are really nice folks. They gave us the grand tour. The Company is Ingrid's Custom Hand Woven, Inc., Reinhard Schoffhaler is the Owner.

He weaves saddle blankets at Paint Rock also. They were doing some as we did our tour. Paint Rock is not a large place and they actually loom the rugs BY HAND on premise. It was really neat to see the looms. They had one real big loom but the others were about small rug size. We have lots of old goat so I hope the rug program works out.

The Owner advised me that mohair was soooo expensive to use. I advised him that getting the mohair would probably not be a problem. Lisa Minter's Mom had some lovely llama rugs in her booth at BSG last year and that is where I found about Paint Rock. Small World.

I went to Guild meeting down here today. I hope to attend a warping class they are having next month. Guild down here very informal and much smaller than up north. That’s it from the Texas Hill Country

Question: What would be your ultimate fiber-themed dream vacation?

Mary B. – I’m packing my bags right now. My favorite fiber vacation would be in Montana/Wyoming. I (and others) could look at sheep one day and pick out a fleece on the hoof. The next day the washed fluffy fleece would be delivered to my little cabin in the woods (the one with the personal hot tub, down feather bed and comforter, front porch with a wonderful view down the valley to the lake where I could sit in my custom fitted rocking chair with the little table next to it to put my cup of tea with the book I was reading. I was always interested to see what the flowers in the little vase would be each day.
That afternoon Debbie Mum and I would dye up portions of the fleece in a wide variety of colors. The next morning we would all meet up and use our personal pickers and super carders well into the night and the next day end up with the most delightful results. At the closing of the workshop, I found that I had won the drawing and was able to stay in my little cabin for another week and do the workshop again Free. Ahhhhhhhh. I returned home and spun and knit for the next year without my wheel or my feet and needles never touching the floor.

Lu Weaver: I'd love to go to Australia or New Zealand and learn about wool, sheep, and spinning there. Or go to Scotland and learn more history of tartans which is very fascinating. The problem is I have a bum leg at the moment, and most tours require a lot of walking.

Connie Vann: My favorite fiber-related dream vacation? Hmmm...there are perhaps too many to choose from. I wouldn't mind starting in New Zealand, because I love their wool, and I wouldn't be surprised if the country wasn't pretty magical as well. But, there are others...so-o-o-o many others...there is fiber all over the world.

Judy Wells: One of the theme fiber vacations I have thought about is a trip to New Zealand. Actually Rex and I have thought about going there and finding a place where I could take maybe a spinning or weaving workshop for a few days and then traveling on to another location where he could take some kind of a woodworking workshop. This way we could both enhance our hobbies while enjoying a vacation, seeing new sites and meeting new people in the process.

Allison Judge: When I reviewed Shear Spirit for Spin Off magazine I read about the farms and people depicted in the book. I would love to travel to each one (I can already check one of the farms off - visited there some years ago on a sunny fall New England day). Meeting those people and their animals, strolling around the farms and fields with them - ah....bliss!

Sharon Campbell: I struggle to picture one location because I’ve been fortunate to experience several and that leaves me confused so I won’t try to address a setting. The qualities I would desire – okay I lied. I think I want it to be on the Pacific coast because I want ocean air, walks on the beach and ocean sunsets. I just listened to Syne Mitchell on www.weavecast.com interview Cameron Taylor-Brown, a weaver who believes in collaborative learning, so I want someone to collaboratively learn with and from. My fantasy would be a vacation with other fiber artists and studios, looms, wheels and lots and lots of time – and prepared meals.

Nancy Pryor: I think I am living my fantasy fiber vacation. I am home all of the time, except for trips to town for mail and groceries, and of course, guild meetings and the weaving study group, as well as walks with the dogs. And no neighbors!!! I have my looms, spinning wheel, fiber, yarn, knitting machines, all right here in the house and I can do as I please whenever I please, within reason that is. I have access to materials at anytime of the day on the Internet. What more could I ask for?

Musings from Sage Creek: Sharon Campbell

I took my book and sat out in the yard today. We are in between snow storms again. The temperature reached 70 degrees and I was in the company of my dogs and a gaggle of songbirds. I know all about why you’re not supposed to feed songbirds, but I’m selfish like that. I like to listen to them, and if they’re fed, they will come – kinda like Field of Dreams. I couldn’t help thinking of when we first became property owners. It was late July and a spate of wildfires filled the valley with smoke. We would drive out after work, pull out our folding chairs and sit on our property, facing the sun which was setting through the smoky pallor. I don’t know about Ian, but I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves in to.

After we moved, the first trees we planted were from the State nursery and didn’t require excavation - dig a little hole, add compost and stick the starter tree in the ground. Subsequent trees have been more substantial and also have required more planning. I recently fell under the spell of Costco’s offering of trees and brought home a couple of gorgeous Austrian pines. I thought I’d replace the two that seem to be languishing. But first I needed to dig up the grass around the base of the trees. Have you ever noticed that where you want grass to grow it won’t, and where you don’t want it to grow you can’t get rid of it?

The only thing not crossed off from my honey-do list today (I’m honey) is “plant trees.” I wish I had put “dig up grass” on the list because at least I could have crossed that off. I’m not sure at what stage my task rests, other than to say that I have two little puddles of water that could attract free-range mosquitoes. I did however refresh the basins on other trees, though at some point it stopped being fun.

Another thing on my honey-do list was to find a shearer for our little wethers. They are few and not of much substance, but their bleating hearts are my little spinning flock and their fleece matters to me. Their fleece is my oil – my watercolor paint. Their fleece is the basis of my spinning and weaving. I seemed to have missed all the shearers moving through our area. One was now in Idaho, another in Portland – the miracle and immediate discouragement of cell technology. My last call, and my only call left, has garnered my little boys a respite from their heavy winter coats, but not for another two weeks. They look ready to explode and they say bah-ram-you.

I’m also looking at my Walls of Water. I got it in my head that warm weather and gorgeous tomato plants meant stick them in Walls of Water – never mind that there is still snow on Peavine, as well as on Peterson. I believed in the power of the walls – they’d insulate those plants and I’d be bragging about their fruit in a matter of months. The day after I planted them it snowed, and then the temperatures dropped so that I didn’t have walls of water, I had walls of ice, as in popsicles. I still have hairy sheep, Walls of Water, and little muddy ponds. Until next weekend~

GOLD DISCOVERY DAYS: Spinning, weaving, fiber arts demo opportunity at the 50th Anniversary celebration in Plumas Eureka State Park near Johnsville/Graeagle, CA on July 18 & 19, 2009. Period costume is encouraged. Call 530-836-1182 or 530-836-0783 for information. You can also contact Anna Harvey at 916-217-8220.

CLASSIFIED ADS:
(A free service to our guild members. Ads run four months unless otherwise requested)

Instructions: Learn to spin! Private and semi-private lessons available in Reno and can be arranged at a convenient time for you. Lessons are 2 hours long and include fiber. Spinning wheel rental is also offered for those students completing a lesson. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Shetland Sheep: Small primitive breed. Wool, breeders or meat custom cut and wrapped at Wiggins in Chilcoot or do it yourself. Ever tasted Shetland meat? I have samples if you'd like to give it a try!
Mimi Bullard 969-3249

Loom for Sale: I have a well traveled and seldom used 4 harness Leclerc - Nilus loom for sale. I was wondering if the information could be passed on to your Spinners and Weavers group. I would love to find the loom a good home. My name is Paula Pennington phone (530) 694-2380. I live in Woodfords. Paula Pennington merganser@gbis.com

Yarn for Sale: I have a large quantity of lamb’s wool and lambs wool/mohair in skeins. The yarn is medium gauge 2-ply and is ready to be dyed. Skeins range in size and cost is $15 - $20 per lb. The wool was raised in an organic environment on my friend’s farm in Southern Alberta Canada. Contact: Tricia Boyko at triciaboyko@hotmail.com

Spinning Wheel: Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for sale. Spins perfectly. Single treadle, single drive, scotch tension. $250. Contact Allison Judge, fiberist@sbcglobal.net

Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers
Our guild was formed in 1976 in an effort to create a resource for practicing and aspiring fiber artists in and near Carson City, Nevada.
Our goal is to: Promote appreciation and knowledge of the fiber arts in our community through demonstrations, fairs, and other activities; provide a support network for fiber artists and enthusiasts in our area; Keep the fiber arts alive by encouraging others to take up spinning, weaving, knitting and other related arts; Support local and global fiber-related causes.
Meetings are normally held the 2nd Saturday of the month. Plan to arrive after 10 a.m.; meetings are called to order at 11 am, with lunch and socializing afterwards. Bring your spinning wheel, knitting or other handwork, and items for sharing. We welcome members and their guests at all levels of expertise.

Newsletter Submissions: must be received no later than the last Wednesday of the month for inclusion in the next newsletter. Submissions must be made in writing and sent by e-mail or snail mail by the deadline to Sharon Campbell, institches@rtci.net

Dues: Membership dues are $25.00 and membership runs from January to December. Please provide your current email address when paying dues. Send dues to: Doris Woloszyn at P.O. Box 229 Chilcoot, CA 96105, and make checks payable to Carson Sierra Spinners & Weavers.
Please Send Guild Correspondence to:

Amy Shannon
2120 Ives Ave
Reno, NV 89503
ashannon@unr.edu

CSSW Guild Library

2009-03-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

If members wish to see a particular book or books, they should contact the librarian to have it brought to the next meeting. Books are checked out for one month and may be renewed by phone for one more month. Overdue fines are $1.00 per month.

Allen, Edith L.
Weaving You Can Do

Anderson, Lee
You Knit Unique

Atwater, Mary M.
Shuttle-Craft Book of American Handweaving, The

Beard, Betty
Fashions from the Loom

Bennett, Noel & Bighorse, Tiana
Working with the Wool

Beriau, Oscar
Home Weaving

Beutlich, Tadek
Technique of Woven Tapestry, The

Black, Mary E.
Key to Weaving: 1952

Black, Mary E.
Key to Weaving: 1978

Bliss, Debbie
Traditional Knitting

Bress, Helene
Inkle Weaving

Bress, Helene
Weaving Book, The

Brown, Harriette J.
Handweaving and Profit for Pleasure Copy 1

Brown, Harriette J.
Handweaving for Pleasure and Profit Copy 2

Christoffersson, Britt-Marie
Swedish Sweaters

Collingworth, Peter
His Weaves and Weaving

Coates, Helen
Weaving for Amateurs

Creager, Clara
Weaving: A Creative Approach for Beginners

Davenport, Elsie C.
Your Handweaving Copy 1

Davenport, Elsie C.
Your Handweaving Copy 2

Davidson, Marion & Blue Martha
Making it Legal

Davison, Marguerite
A Handweaver’s Pattern Book Copy 1

Davison, Marguerite
A Handweaver’s Pattern Book Copy 2

Echenwalder, Susan
Trials of Jurying, The

Family Circle Magazine
Sensational Fashions and Crafts

Fassett, Kaffe
Glorious Knits

Fassett, Kaffe
Glorious Color

Fassett, Kaffe & Hunt, Zoe
Family Album: Knitting for Children and Adults

Fee, Jacqueline
Sweater Workshop, The

Field, Ann
Weaving with Rigie Heddle

Folts, Teresa
Inkle Path to Weaving, The

Galiner, Osma & Del Deo, Josephine
Rug Weaving for Everyone

Garrett, Cay
Warping All By Yourself

Gustafson, Paula
Salish Weaving

Harvey, Michael & Compton, Rae
Fisherman Knitting

Held, Shirley E.
Weaving: A Handbook for Fiber Craftsman

Holland, Nina
Inkle Loom Weaving

Horne, Beverly
Fleece in Your Hands

Jorstad, Caroline M.
Ethnic Looms

King, William A.
Warp and Weft from Tibet

Kinzel, Maryanne
First Book of Modern Lace Knitting

Kluger, Marilyn
Joy of Spinning, The

Larsen, Jack & Constantine, Mildred
Beyond Craft: The Art Fabric

Larsen, Jack & Thorpe, Azalea
Elements of Weaving Copy 1

Larsen, Jack & Thorpe, Azalea
Elements of Weaving Copy 2

Ligon, Linda
Homespun Handknit

Mayer, Anita L.
Handwoven Cloth Felted to Wear

Mielach, Donna
Creating Art from Fibers and Fabrics

Mielach, Donna
Weaving Off-Loom

Moorman, Theo
Weaving as an Art Form

Norbury, James
Traditional Knitting Patterns

Oelsner, G.H.
Handbook of Weaves Copy 1

Oelsner, G.H.
Handbook of Weaves Copy 2

Plath, Iona
Handweaving

Porter, Robert
Mushroom Hunt, The

Regensteiner, Else
Art of Weaving, The Copy 1

Regensteiner, Else
Art of Weaving, The Paper Copy 2

Rice, Miriam & Beebee, Dorthy
Mushrooms for Color

Ronin, James A.
Spinformation

Rush, Helene
Head to Toe

Selander, Malin
Weaving Patterns

Skjoldebrand, Ingerlise
Treasure Chest of Swedish Weaving, The

Skowronski, Hella & Reddy, Mary
Sprang

Starmore, Alice
Celtic Collection, The

Thompson, Gladys
Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans

Tidball, Harriett
Guatemala Visited

Tidball, Harriett
Two-Harness Textiles: The Open-Work Weaves

Tidball, Harriett
Merry Christmas, Handweavers

Tidball, Harriett
Summer and Winter

Tidball, Harriett
Two Harness Textiles: The Loom-Controlled Weaves

Tod, Osma G.
Designing and Making Handwoven Rugs

Weigle, Palmy
Color Exercises for the Weaver

Weir, Shelagh
Bedouin, The

West, Virginia M.
Finishing Touches for the Handweaver

Wilcox, Donald
New Design in Weaving

Wilcox, Donald
Techniques of Rya Knotting

Wilson, Jean
Weaving is for Anyone

Wilson, Jean
Pile Weaves, The Copy 1

Wilson, Jean
Pile Weaves, The Copy 2

Wilson, Jean
Pile Weaves, The Copy 3

Wilson, Jean
Weaving is Creative: The Weaver Controlled Weaves

Wilson, Jean
Weaving is for Anyone

Wilson, Jean
Weaving is Fun

Youngmark, Lore & Halsey, Mike
Foundations of Weaving

Zimmerman, Elizabeth
Knitting Around

Zimmerman, Elizabeth
Knitting Workshop


Allen, Edith L.		Weaving You Can Do
Anderson, Lee		You Knit Unique
Atwater, Mary M.		Shuttle-Craft Book of American Handweaving, The
Beard, Betty		Fashions from the Loom
Bennett, Noel & Bighorse, Tiana		Working with the Wool
Beriau, Oscar		Home Weaving
Beutlich, Tadek		Technique of Woven Tapestry, The
Black, Mary E.		Key to Weaving: 1952
Black, Mary E.		Key to Weaving: 1978
Bliss, Debbie		Traditional Knitting
Bress, Helene		Inkle Weaving
Bress, Helene		Weaving Book, The
Brown, Harriette J.		Handweaving and Profit for Pleasure Copy 1
Brown, Harriette J.		Handweaving for Pleasure and Profit Copy 2
Christoffersson, Britt-Marie		Swedish Sweaters
Collingworth, Peter		His Weaves and Weaving
Coates, Helen		Weaving for Amateurs
Creager, Clara		Weaving: A Creative Approach for Beginners
Davenport, Elsie C.		Your Handweaving Copy 1
Davenport, Elsie C.		Your Handweaving Copy 2
Davidson, Marion & Blue Martha		Making it Legal
Davison, Marguerite		A Handweaver’s Pattern Book Copy 1
Davison, Marguerite		A Handweaver’s Pattern Book Copy 2
Echenwalder, Susan		Trials of Jurying, The
Family Circle Magazine		Sensational Fashions and Crafts
Fassett, Kaffe		Glorious Knits
Fassett, Kaffe		Glorious Color
Fassett, Kaffe & Hunt, Zoe		Family Album: Knitting for Children and Adults
Fee, Jacqueline		Sweater Workshop, The
Field, Ann		Weaving with Rigie Heddle
Folts, Teresa		Inkle Path to Weaving, The
Galiner, Osma & Del Deo, Josephine		Rug Weaving for Everyone
Garrett, Cay		Warping All By Yourself
Gustafson, Paula		Salish Weaving
Harvey, Michael & Compton, Rae		Fisherman Knitting
Held, Shirley E.		Weaving: A Handbook for Fiber Craftsman
Holland, Nina		Inkle Loom Weaving
Horne, Beverly		Fleece in Your Hands
Jorstad, Caroline M.		Ethnic Looms
King, William A.		Warp and Weft from Tibet
Kinzel, Maryanne		First Book of Modern Lace Knitting
Kluger, Marilyn		Joy of Spinning, The
Larsen, Jack & Constantine, Mildred		Beyond Craft: The Art Fabric
Larsen, Jack & Thorpe, Azalea		Elements of Weaving Copy 1
Larsen, Jack & Thorpe, Azalea		Elements of Weaving Copy 2
Ligon, Linda		Homespun Handknit
Mayer, Anita L.		Handwoven Cloth Felted to Wear
Mielach, Donna		Creating Art from Fibers and Fabrics
Mielach, Donna		Weaving Off-Loom
Moorman, Theo		Weaving as an Art Form
Norbury, James		Traditional Knitting Patterns
Oelsner, G.H.		Handbook of Weaves Copy 1
Oelsner, G.H.		Handbook of Weaves Copy 2
Plath, Iona		Handweaving
Porter, Robert		Mushroom Hunt, The
Regensteiner, Else		Art of Weaving, The Copy 1
Regensteiner, Else		Art of Weaving, The Paper Copy 2
Rice, Miriam & Beebee, Dorthy		Mushrooms for Color
Ronin, James A.		Spinformation
Rush, Helene		Head to Toe
Selander, Malin		Weaving Patterns
Skjoldebrand, Ingerlise		Treasure Chest of Swedish Weaving, The
Skowronski, Hella & Reddy, Mary		Sprang
Starmore, Alice		Celtic Collection, The
Thompson, Gladys		Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans
Tidball, Harriett		Guatemala Visited
Tidball, Harriett		Two-Harness Textiles: The Open-Work Weaves
Tidball, Harriett		Merry Christmas, Handweavers
Tidball, Harriett		Summer and Winter
Tidball, Harriett		Two Harness Textiles: The Loom-Controlled Weaves
Tod, Osma G.		Designing and Making Handwoven Rugs
Weigle, Palmy		Color Exercises for the Weaver
Weir, Shelagh		Bedouin, The
West, Virginia M.		Finishing Touches for the Handweaver
Wilcox, Donald		New Design in Weaving
Wilcox, Donald		Techniques of Rya Knotting
Wilson, Jean		Weaving is for Anyone
Wilson, Jean		Pile Weaves, The Copy 1
Wilson, Jean		Pile Weaves, The Copy 2
Wilson, Jean		Pile Weaves, The Copy 3
Wilson, Jean		Weaving is Creative: The Weaver Controlled Weaves
Wilson, Jean		Weaving is for Anyone
Wilson, Jean		Weaving is Fun
Youngmark, Lore & Halsey, Mike		Foundations of Weaving
Zimmerman, Elizabeth		Knitting Around
Zimmerman, Elizabeth		Knitting Workshop